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Israel to Lebanese: Flee, but Stay Off Roads

Defenders of Israeli actions in Lebanon have made a point of the fact Israel has warned residents of South Lebanon to flee, as if this makes it okay.

But today Israel is dropping new leaflets on South Lebanon, telling residents south of the Litani River to stay out of cars and off the roads.

So now residents of South Lebanon have a choice: they can flee the bombing or they can stay in their homes.

Israel Lets Some Hezbollah Rockets in for PR?

On CNN’s “Reliable Sources” news show on Sunday, Washington Post Pentagon correspondent Thomas Ricks stated

One of the things that is going on, according to some U.S. military analysts, is that Israel purposely has left pockets of Hezbollah rockets in Lebanon, because as long as they’re being rocketed, they can continue to have a sort of moral equivalency in their operations in Lebanon.

HOWARD KURTZ: Hold on, you’re suggesting that Israel has deliberately allowed Hezbollah to retain some of it’s fire power, essentially for PR purposes, because having Israeli civilians killed helps them in the public relations war here?

RICKS: Yes, that’s what military analysts have told me.

KURTZ: That’s an extraordinary testament to the notion that having people on your own side killed actually works to your benefit in that nobody wants to see your own citizens killed but it works to your benefit in terms of the battle of perceptions here.

RICKS: Exactly. It helps you with the moral high ground problem, because you know your operations in Lebanon are going to be killing civilians as well.

Any Hezbollah Killed?

There are many reports on those killed in Lebanon, as of this post, it stands at 204, “all but 14 of them civilians.” The 14 includes 9 Lebanese soldiers.

Almost every day in Gaza, Israel says that they have killed one or more militants.

But there are no reports I have been able to find of Hezbollah militants killed in the last few days of bombardment of Lebanon.

I am sure that if the Israelis were aware of any Hezbollah killed we would hear about it. I also believe that Hezbollah would announce the deaths of any of their officials or fighters. But we have heard nothing.

Israeli officials have stressed that they are focusing on Hezbollah targets, yet they seem to be killing only civilians (and a few Lebanese soldiers). Are they that inept? I doubt it.