Lebanon | PLACE

FILE In this Sunday, July 16, 2006 file photo an Israeli F-16 warplane takes off to a mission in Lebanon from an air force base in northern Israel. The diplomatic crisis between the U.S. and Israel has sent a tremor through their alliance, but one key part of the bond seems virtually untouchable: the roughly $3 billion a year in U.S. military aid. Israel's harsher critics often call for aid cuts to twist Israel's arm, but the political stakes are too high. Besides - much of the money cycles back into the U.S. arms industry - making the relationship a mutually beneficial one.

Women pose near a portrait of former Iraq leader Saddam Hussein, as a boy, right, lights candles during a vigil marking the seventh anniversary of the U.S. led invasion of Iraq in front of the United Nations House in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, March 19, 2010.

A woman, right, takes a picture of her friend posing near a portrait of Saddam Hussein, during a vigil marking the seventh anniversary of the U.S. led invasion of Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein, in front of the United Nations House in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, March 19, 2010.

A Palestinian girl carries the Quran during a rally held in the Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Friday, March 19, 2010. The rally was held to express support and solidarity for the Palestinians over Jerusalem latest clashes. The Arabic writing on her head scarf reads: "Qassam Brigades."

Representative of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Lebanon, Ali Barake, speaks to demonstrators during a multi movement protest in Beirut on March 19, 2010 against Israel's plans to build new settlements and in solidarity with Palestinians. Tensions remained high in Jerusalem and the West Bank as the Quartet for the Middle East urged Israel to stop building settlements and set a target for a final deal with the Palestinians within two years. The word 'Israel' is written on the banner in the background.