BEIRUT, 21 August 2006 — The United Nations said yesterday the week-old truce between Israel and Hezbollah could easily collapse, a day after it condemned an Israeli raid on the group in Lebanon as a violation.
Senior UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen said the truce that halted the 34-day war had provided the Lebanese government with a good chance to extend its authority over all of the country. “We also do believe that unfortunately there is a tilting edge where things very easily, within the next weeks or months, can slide out of control,” Roed-Larsen told reporters in Beirut.
“This is why it’s so important that all parties concerned exercise utmost restraint in this situation in order to give the Lebanese Army the possibility of deploying fully along all borders of Lebanon, and particularly in the south, and also to allow the international community to provide troops.” A 30,000-strong force is envisaged for south Lebanon, made up of Lebanese and UN troops in equal number.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Saturday Israel’s commando raid on a Hezbollah stronghold deep inside Lebanon had violated the truce that came into effect on Aug. 14. Israel said the operation, in which commandos were airlifted into the area by helicopter, was defensive and designed to disrupt weapons supplies to Hezbollah from Syria and Iran. It denied it had violated the UN truce resolution, which allows it to act in self-defense, and accused Hezbollah of a breach of the cease-fire by smuggling weapons.
The Lebanese government yesterday vowed to crush any attempt on the Lebanese side of the border to break the truce, saying anyone attacking Israel would be considered a traitor.
“The army will be very tough in dealing with such an issue,” Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr told a news conference.
Murr said the army now controlled the entire border with Syria and would crack down on arms shipments. “There is no flexibility on arms smuggling,” he said.
Israel said it would prevent the Lebanese Army from deploying along the volatile border in areas currently held by Israeli troops until the arrival of an international force in the area. Defense Minister Amir Peretz told yesterday’s weekly Cabinet meeting: “We will continue to prevent the Lebanese Army from deploying within two kilometers of the border, before the deployment of the multinational force.”
France said it had asked European Union President Finland to call a meeting of the bloc’s member states to discuss the composition and mandate of an international peacekeeping force in Lebanon.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said countries that don’t have diplomatic relations with Israel should not participate in the force, complicating efforts by the United Nations to form the 15,000-strong peacekeeping force.
Meeting in Cairo to discuss Lebanon’s reconstruction, Arab foreign ministers called on the UN Security Council to pressure Israel to lift its blockade of Lebanon, and called for a truce that would be “firm and lasting.” The ministers also welcomed Lebanon’s decision to deploy its army along the Lebanese-Israeli frontier.
The Kuwaiti government plans to donate $800 million to Lebanon, announced Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Al-Sabah upon arrival in Cairo. Saudi Arabia said it had already donated $500 million, and other Gulf states have also made pledges to chip in.
Iran rejected reports its was pouring cash into Lebanon for the Hezbollah to help rebuild the hundreds of homes destroyed during the war.
