Under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, Israel and
Hizbullah are to stop fighting, Hizbullah is to be removed
from southern Lebanon and the border is to be patrolled by an
enlarged U.N. peacekeeper force of 15,000 personnel. The
Lebanese army is also expected to send thousands of troops to
the South in an implementation of previous U.N. resolution
1559 that was passed six years ago when Israel withdrew from
Lebanon.
As we go to press under our summer schedule on Monday, the
Resolution has taken effect, but Jerusalem planners
reportedly do not expect it to hold. On Sunday, the Lebanese
government did not meet to approve sending its army to south
Lebanon as called-for under the cease-fire agreement, and no
venue was given for a later meeting. The approval was
reportedly blocked by Hizbullah, which is part of the
Lebanese government, but its forces in the south must be
disarmed according to the agreement.
On Monday hours after the cease-fire took effect, IDF troops
shot and killed a Hizbullah fighter who was threatening them.
Israel announced that it would cease all its initiatives to
clear the areas of Hizbullah fighters, but feels empowered to
respond forcefully to any Hizbullah violations or threats.
On Sunday the IDF took up positions along the Litani River,
in anticipation of the cease fire. After weeks of hesitation
about launching a wider ground move into Lebanon, the IDF
began such an operation late on Friday, just before Shabbos.
Shabbos itself was the bloodiest day of the conflict so far,
R"l, and 24 soldiers were killed Hy"d.
Hizbullah fired 250 rockets into Israel on Sunday, the
largest amount yet in a single day. Apparently it wanted to
indicate that it could still fight the day before the cease-
fire. Through chasdei Shomayim the salvos were
relatively ineffective and mostly fell in open areas. Seven
soldiers were killed on Sunday Hy"d and more than 30
were wounded.
Israeli authorities asked many communities in the north to
remain in bomb shelters until Hizbullah intentions become
clearer. OC Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin was very
pessimistic about the chances of Hizbullah abiding by the
agreement.
UN Security-General Kofi Annan sent a letter to the Israeli
government warning that if one side was fired upon, the other
side should not respond except in immediate self-defense. A
source in the Prime Minister's Office called Annan's letter
unacceptable. Israel asserts its right to respond vigorously
to Hizbullah if it breaks the cease-fire.
Israeli diplomats were trying to stress the importance of an
agreement being binding on both sides. In the past, Israel
has been held to international agreements, while Arab parties
have been excused with the assessment that they are wild and
cannot be expected to fully comply. Israeli spokesman have
been stressing that such asymmetric implementations have no
hope of being sustainable.
The agreement calls for the Lebanese army and an
international force based on the expanding the existing
UNIFIL soldiers in south Lebanon to ensure that Hizbullah
does not remain a "state within a state" in the south and
build up its arms once again. The Lebanese army is not a very
effective fighting force, and many of its troops are also
Shiites like Hizbullah. The UN force will be made up of
soldiers from many nationalities, and it will be armed.
However it is not expected to be strong enough to disarm
Hizbullah by force. The hope is that the combined forces will
be enough to keep Hizbullah arms out after Israel has
disarmed the militants.
Analysts said that Israel was hoping to withdraw as soon as
possible so as not to be subject to attacks from Hizbullah.
It has no territorial ambitions but to live in peace within
its recognized borders.
