In July 2006, Israeli troops were two weeks into their unsuccessful campaign to rescue captured soldier Gilad Shalit when the Shia Muslim political and militant movement attacked from the north.
Its fighters launched dozens of Katyusha rockets and mortars at Israel and seized two more soldiers and killed eight others in cross-border raids.
It was seen as a dramatic gesture of solidarity with the Palestinians, but Israel’s response was far more dramatic and devastating to Lebanon.

The body of Saddam Hussein was stabbed six times after he was executed, according to the head guard at the former president’s tomb north of Baghdad, who was one of the people that helped bury the corpse.
The claim is categorically denied by the head of Saddam’s tribe. The Iraqi Government similarly denies any mutilation took place after the dictator was hanged on December 30, 2006, for crimes against humanity.

Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, has held talks with his political rival Saad al-Hariri, leader of Lebanon’s parliamentary majority, a statement issued by both sides has said.
The meeting on Sunday was the first between the two leaders since Israel’s 2006 war in Lebanon and comes five months after Qatar mediated an end to an 18-month political conflict in Lebanon which had escalated into street battles.