Leaving to one side each combatant in the Israel-Hezbollah war - and their respective supporters - claiming "victory" in the war, many facts and questions are now, post-war, emerging or under investigation.
For instance the NY Times [and Reuter] reports:
"The United States is investigating whether Israel violated U.S. rules in its use of U.S.-made rockets armed with cluster bombs in Lebanon, the State Department said on Friday.
``We have heard the allegations they were used and we are taking a look at that,'' said State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos.
He was responding to questions about an article in Friday's New York Times which said the State Department's Office of Defense Trade Controls opened the probe this week after reports that three types of American cluster bombs were discovered in southern Lebanon and were responsible for civilian deaths."
Read the full article here.
Then, consistent with what Israel has repeatedly claimed to be the case, this report also from the NY Times:
"For months, the residents of this predominantly Sunni village near the Israeli border watched anxiously as the Shiite Hezbollah militiamen brought arms and rockets into town in preparation for battle. The residents grappled with whether they should accept the fighters’ presence and face a possible Israeli attack or try to eject them, with the more probable risk of retribution by Hezbollah.
On Thursday, as the village buried 23 people who were killed by Israeli warplanes while trying to flee on July 15, many had belatedly made up their mind.
“We kept beseeching them, ‘Stay out! Stay out!’ ” said Zainab Ali."
Read the full NY Times article here on how Hezbollah seemingly infiltrated southern Lebanon villages.
Add to the above this critical question as posed in The Daily Star newspaper in Beirut:
"Hizbullah's efficient ward heelers are handing out cash, reportedly much of it Iranian, to persuade the party's Shiite supporters that the destruction of their homes and livelihood was worth it. However, a more pressing question is: At what point will Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hizbullah's secretary general, be forced into making an impossible choice where he must either reimburse his expanding debt to Iran or, by doing so, risk losing the backing of his own community? In other words, when will Hizbullah have to truly decide whether it is Iranian or Lebanese?"
Read this last newspaper article here.
For instance the NY Times [and Reuter] reports:
"The United States is investigating whether Israel violated U.S. rules in its use of U.S.-made rockets armed with cluster bombs in Lebanon, the State Department said on Friday.
``We have heard the allegations they were used and we are taking a look at that,'' said State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos.
He was responding to questions about an article in Friday's New York Times which said the State Department's Office of Defense Trade Controls opened the probe this week after reports that three types of American cluster bombs were discovered in southern Lebanon and were responsible for civilian deaths."
Read the full article here.
Then, consistent with what Israel has repeatedly claimed to be the case, this report also from the NY Times:
"For months, the residents of this predominantly Sunni village near the Israeli border watched anxiously as the Shiite Hezbollah militiamen brought arms and rockets into town in preparation for battle. The residents grappled with whether they should accept the fighters’ presence and face a possible Israeli attack or try to eject them, with the more probable risk of retribution by Hezbollah.
On Thursday, as the village buried 23 people who were killed by Israeli warplanes while trying to flee on July 15, many had belatedly made up their mind.
“We kept beseeching them, ‘Stay out! Stay out!’ ” said Zainab Ali."
Read the full NY Times article here on how Hezbollah seemingly infiltrated southern Lebanon villages.
Add to the above this critical question as posed in The Daily Star newspaper in Beirut:
"Hizbullah's efficient ward heelers are handing out cash, reportedly much of it Iranian, to persuade the party's Shiite supporters that the destruction of their homes and livelihood was worth it. However, a more pressing question is: At what point will Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hizbullah's secretary general, be forced into making an impossible choice where he must either reimburse his expanding debt to Iran or, by doing so, risk losing the backing of his own community? In other words, when will Hizbullah have to truly decide whether it is Iranian or Lebanese?"
Read this last newspaper article here.
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