Lebanese villagers kicked out the Hezbollah, but not too much significance should be read into this perhaps, as the village is close to the border, and villagers may have understood that Israel could monitor their movements. Still, a good sign, but not a substitute for disarming Hezbollah in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions, which Lebanon continues to violate.
Lebanese villagers repel Hizbullah men
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST
In what may be an indication of Hizbullah's waning influence over the residents of southern Lebanon, the security establishment released on Tuesday documented proof of Hizbullah operatives being forcibly prevented from entering a village near the Israeli border.
The grainy video showed residents of Kfar Manisim, which is only a kilometer from Israel, standing in front of a Hizbullah jeep and arguing with its occupants. The operatives, who had apparently tried to station arms in the houses of the villagers, resisted, and both sides began firing warning shots into the air. The incident eventually ended when the Hizbullah men turned around and drove away.
Following the confrontation, Lebanese army troops arrived at the village to ensure that order was maintained.
Israel has long maintained that Hizbullah has made a concerted effort to not only re-establish its presence in southern Lebanon, but also has consistently hidden weapons and fighters within the Lebanese civilian population. While the former charge would be a violation of UN Resolution 1701, the latter would be a violation of international law.
In July, a Hizbullah arms cache in southern Lebanon exploded, leading Israel to accuse the group of breaking the ceasefire agreement by stockpiling smuggled weapons in the southern part of the country. Hizbullah denied that the weapons were smuggled, saying that they had been stored prior to the Second Lebanon War.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment