I really would like to know the truth about this question.

[boston bean]

Not that it really matters at this point in time, but I think the truth shouldn't be lost in spin.

When the bombs started flying, I read and heard that Hezbollah caught the soldiers on Lebanon territory. Now I hear something completely contrary.

What is the truth?

Also, did Hezbolla fire the first rockets. Not at some point, but at the beginning of this conflict?

Can anyone give me a definite answer?

[Kagemusha]

1. I can speak to the rockets certainly.

The rockets got fired into Israel after Israel launched punitive air strikes into Lebanon. The rockets didn't start until the IDF responded to the attack on the IDF.

[Breeze54]

5. Hezbollah was firing missiles first and has been, according to this.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2273363,00.html

snip--> July 17, 2006

JUNE 25 Militants from Hamas, Popular Resistance Committees
and Jish al-Islam use a tunnel to cross the border between Gaza
and Israel.
Two Israeli soldiers are killed in the ambush, four injured and one,
Corporal Gilad Shalit, kidnapped

JUNE 28 Israel launches airstrikes against Gaza, with its troops
entering southern Gaza for the first time since the withdrawal
10 months before

JULY 12 Hezbollah launches rockets and mortars on Israeli towns
along the Lebanese border. A force then moves into Israel,
attacking two armoured Humvees near the Israeli village of Zar’it.
Three Israeli soldiers are killed, two taken hostage.

Israel retaliates with airstrikes, destroying bridges and civilian
infrastructure in southern Lebanon.
Lebanese TV channel al-Manar reports 55 civilians killed

JULY 13 Israeli jets bomb Lebanon’s international airport near Beirut,
forcing its closure. Hezbollah bombards Israeli towns Nahariya and Safed,
killing two and wounding 29

JULY 14 Two Israeli civilians killed in rocket attacks in Meron.
Hezbollah leader Sheikh Nasrallah declares “open war”

JULY 15 Three Patriot missile defence batteries deployed by in Haifa
At least 15 Lebanese villagers, including nine women and children,
are killed by an Israeli airstrike on vehicles fleeing a village in
southern Lebanon

JULY 16 Eight people are killed after Hezbollah fire rockets at Haifa;
an Israeli airstrike in response kills 23 Lebanese
In five days of fighting, 148 Lebanese and 24 Israelis have been killed

THE WEAPONS AIMED AT ISRAEL

more at link..... <--snip

:shrug:
I really don't know as I wasn't there.

[Monkeyman]

2. Hezbollah took two soldiers first

[uppityperson]

3. where were the soldiers taken at? thank you

[k_jerome]

6. Israel. nt.

[Little Star]

14. Lebanon.......

or Israel take your pick. There seems to be two different versions of the story. Don't you love it when facts can change? Some media say one thing and other media says another. "sigh"

[boston bean]

4. I know that, but were the soldiers making an incursion into Lebanon

when caught or were they on Israeli territory?

[Breeze54]

9. I've heard different versions of this too.

From what I've gathered, Hezbollah shot missles across the border and then Israeli soldiers
crossed the Lebanon border, pursuing them and then 2 were kidnapped and 8 killed.

I may be wrong on that but it seems that might be what happened.

[uppityperson]

7. found this, but still am not sure of timeline of "start"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5171616.stm
Lebanese guerrillas have captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid, triggering the first Israeli land incursion into the country since 2000.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5179434.stm
WEDNESDAY 12 JULY

Hezbollah fighters based in southern Lebanon launch Katyusha rockets across the border with Israel, targeting the town of Shlomi and outposts in the Shebaa Farms area.


Israeli tank fire against Hezbollah positions

In pictures: Border clashes
In a cross-border raid, guerrillas seize two Israeli soldiers before retreating back into Lebanon, insisting on a prisoner exchange and warning against confrontation. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert describes the capture of the soldiers as "an act of war".

In response Israeli planes bomb Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon and troops cross into southern Lebanon for the first time since the military withdrawal of 2000.

However, the troops encounter heavy resistance - eight are killed and two others are injured during fighting with Hezbollah. Israel calls up reserve troops as it pledges a swift and large-scale response to the Hezbollah attack.

[uppityperson]

8. more

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/lebanontime1.html
July 2006
Hezbollah enters Israel and captures two Israeli soldiers on July 12. In response, Israel launches a major military attack, bombing the Lebanese airport and parts of southern Lebanon. Hezbollah retaliates by launching hundreds of rockets and missles—believed to have been supplied by Syria and Iran—into Israel.

On July 18, an Israeli general indicates that Israel's offensive in Lebanon would last several more weeks, until Hezbollah is routed. About 25 Israelis and 230 Lebanese have been killed in the fighting.

[never_get_over_it]

10. I'm pretty sure Mike Malloy addressed this on one of his shows

towards the end of last week. I'm sorry I can't remember which one. Apparently there have been news reports stating that the soldiers were captured "inside" Lebanon.

I suggest you do a google on israeli soldiers kidnapped inside lebanon - there are many articles - and you can decide for yourself.....

http://www.antiwar.com/frank/?articleid=9401 this one for instance addresses your specific issue

[Breeze54]

11. On the same token, if

you google 'Hezbollah did not kidnap Israeli soldiers' ?

You will get numerous hits also!


I also tried 'Hezbollah did not capture Israeli soldiers'
and got a ton of hits as well.

I don't think anyone but the soldiers directly involved really know what happened first!

Although I did read an account from a citizen who lived about 500 yards
from the initial attack area. I don't think I saved the link though.
That person said that Hezbollah crossed the border over into Israel
and couldn't understand why the MSM wasn't telling the truth about what Hezbollah did.

[Little Star]

12. Here are some links

There are two VERY DIFFERENT stories about which side of the border that those 2 Israeli soldiers were captured on July 12, 2006. Israeli and USA say they were captured in Israeli and you will find that most of the western media follows their cue. However, when it first happened Yahoo News , MSNBC Online and others said that the 2 soldiers were captured in a town within southern Lebanon. I actually saw them posted and even linked to the Yahoo one in one of my earlier posts when I was trying to figure things out. Those sites have since been reworked with the western story.
Bottom Line which group of liars do you choose to believe? Good Luck trying to get to 'just the facts' because they change when the breeze blows the other direction.

Associated Press
Hezbollah Captures 2 Israeli Soldiers
By JOSEPH PANOSSIAN , 07.12.2006, 05:41 AM
The militant group Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers during clashes Wednesday across the border in southern Lebanon

http://www.forbes.com/technology/feeds/ap/2006/07/12/ap2873051.html


And the French news site www.VoltaireNet.org reiterated the same account on June 18, "In a deliberated way, sent a commando in the Lebanese back-country to Aitaa al-Chaab. It was attacked by Hezbollah, taking two prisoners.


July 25, 2006
Kidnapped in Israel or Captured in Lebanon?
Official justification for Israel's invasion on thin ice
by Joshua Frank
(This article by Joshua Frank is at Antiwar.com but, I don't know if I'm allowed to paste a link to that web site)

ASIA TIMES ONLINE
It's war by any other name
By Sami Moubayed

DAMASCUS - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert described what is happening in Lebanon as saying. "This is an act of war." Olmert is correct. This is war. It has been war, non-stop, since 1948. What is happening in Lebanon today is yet another chapter of bloody Middle East events that will last for generations to come, because it is impossible, after so many years of conflict, for the Israelis and Arabs to forgive and forget. <snip>
It all started on July 12 when Israel troops were ambushed on Lebanon's side of the border with Israel. Hezbollah, which commands the Lebanese south, immediately seized on their crossing. They arrested two Israeli soldiers, killed eight Israelis and wounded over 20 in attacks inside Israeli territory.

This unleashed hell in Israel, and Olmert immediately responded by mounting a war on Lebanon. A sea, air and ground blockade was enforced on Lebanon, and a systematic destruction of Lebanon's infrastructure was began.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HG15Ak02.html

[Little Star]

13. Oh Yeah and

I forgot to mention that Noam Chomsky and others have said this started because of what was happening in Gaza. Something about a Palestinian family of seven killed on the beach in Gaza then Hamas captured the one Israeli soldier then all hell broke loose on Gaza. It is said that on July 11th Hezbollah was trying to take some of the heat off the Palestinians in Gaza. If that was their plan it didn't work Gaza's people are being killed left and right.