DAILY SCOPE: Washington Disowns Qunaitra Attack, ’Israel’ Lives Panic Attacks

Local Editor

NEWSPAPERS HEADLINES:

ASSAFIR:
Washington "Disowns" Quneitra Raid: We Did Not Know Before Aggression

"Israel" Chases "Ghosts"...And Panic in Northern Settlements

AL-AKHBAR: 

Panic in "Israel"

AN-NAHAR:

Qahwaji from Arsal: We are ready to all possibilities

THE DAILYSTAR:

Qahwaji from Arsal: Army ready to thwart terror plots

Lebanese newspapers on Thursday focused on the possibilities of Hizbullah response to the Qunaitra aggression, shedding light on the state of fear and chaos dominating over the "Israeli" enemy, amid ongoing haphazard analysis of "Israeli" experts to what might the resistance's response be. The papers also dealt with the different political and security issues related to the Lebanese arena not to mention the Syrian crisis.

Hizbullah on Wednesday proceeded in the funeral processions of the martyrs who fell in the Qunaitra "Israeli" raid, with the resistance leadership receiving visitors who presented their condolences and congratulations at once. As-Safir newspaper wrote on Thursday "now that the processions are over, the fear haunting "Israel" of the Hizbullah response is on the rise, with the fear taking the form of ‘nervous breakdowns' or ‘panic attacks' like the case was on Wednesday."

The Lebanese daily pointed out that several "Israeli" officials canceled their visits to other countries due to the current situation, at the time head of ‘Kiryat Shmona' municipality said it is very difficult for the "Israeli" settlers to remain in state of alert and tension.

On Wednesday, news were leaked on the infiltration of some persons through the Lebanese borders, which caused a state of chaos and fear among the "Israeli" settlers until the news was declared to be untrue.

According to as-Safir, what reflected the increasing fear among the "Israelis" [other than saying it did not know about the presence of the Iranian general in the convoy or the nature of the people in the convoy], was that US Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale requested to see Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam to inform him how the US is concerned about what had happened, stressing that they are following on the events taking place along the borders, and assure it had no previous knowledge of the attack.

Meanwhile, sources told the paper as well that concerned officials in Hizbullah discussed Wednesday night the preparation for a central ceremony in the Sayyed al-Shuhada complex on Sunday, to commemorate the first-week memory of the Qunaitra martyrs, through which Hizbullah Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will deliver a speech.

On another note, head of the Progressive Socialist party MP Walid Jumblatt told As-Safir that the "Israeli" raid on Qunaitra is to draw an ‘advanced demarcation line' between Iran and "Israel", not to mention that it falls in the calculations of "Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the coming elections in the Zionist entity. According to Jumblatt, it also might fall under the category of hamperingthe Iran-West nuclear talks and prevent any agreement from taking place.

For its part, al-Akhbar newspaper said General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim lamented the slow pace of the negotiations on the release of the Lebanese hostages, and stressed the necessity to stop terrorists from hiding in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh.

"The problem of the captives does not require consensus, which we already have. It requires agreement on several issues and many of them are on the right track," Ibrahim told al-Akhbar daily in an interview published on Thursday, expressing his regret that the negotiations aimed at releasing the captive soldiers and policemen are "slow."
The General noted that "the weather and the difficult terrain are hindering mediators from heading to the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal to talk to the militants who kidnapped them."

"The negotiations cannot be carried out by telephone. They are done through envoys," Ibrahim told al-Akhbar.

He further stressed that Prime Minister Tammam Salam and the government have tasked him with negotiating the release of the captives, but added "There are a lot of envoys, we talk with some of them."
Answering a question on whether he had fears on the lives of the captives, Ibrahim said that "There are no guarantees" that they would not kill more hostages after four of them were executed, stating "They are certainly in danger after some of the previous threats of the hostage-takers were implemented."
He disclosed that the Lebanese authorities are willing to engage in a legal prisoner exchange.

An-Nahar newspaper in its turn quoted the vow of Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Jean Qahwaji to prevent terrorist groups from gaining a foothold in Lebanon, where he stressed that the military is fully prepared to confront imminent terror plots designed to destabilize the country.

During a tour to the army posts in the outskirts of Arsal and Labweh on the northeastern frontier with Syria, Qahwaji stressed "We've made several great achievements, but this does not mean that the threat of (security) incidents and crises are over. We are fully prepared to confront them and they will not be any more difficult than previous [threats]."

Source: al-Ahed news