TEL AVIV — Armed Hizbullah operatives have returned to the
Israeli-Lebanese border in open violation of the UN ceasefire terms.
Israeli military sources said Hizbullah fighters and operatives were
seen returning with tens of thousands of Lebanese residents to the
communities from which they had fled in July. The sources said some of the
Hizbullah fighters were seen with weapons and communications equipment.
"They are quite open about it," a source who tracks Hizbullah movements
said. "The Lebanese know it and even our soldiers at their posts in Lebanon
see them."
Under a United Nations-arranged ceasefire, Hizbullah operatives were not
allowed to bring their weapons to southern Lebanon. The Security Council
resolution also called for the surrender of Hizbullah weaponry, Middle East Newsline reported.
But Israeli and Lebanese sources said armed Hizbullah operatives arrived
with flags of the Shi'ite militia. They said some of the operatives planted
flags throughout southern Lebanese villages while others distributed food
and supplies.
On Saturday, an Israeli commando was killed in a clash with Hizbullah
operatives near Baalbek in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. Military sources said an
Israeli special operations force sought to block Iranian weapons shipments
from Syria.
"The goal of the operation was to disrupt and prevent smuggling of
weaponry from Iran or Syria to Hizbullah," an Israeli military statement
said. "The goals of the operation were achieved in full."
The Lebanese Army has been sent to the Israeli-Lebanese border. On Aug.
18, the army was seen patrolling the 75-kilometer border.
Lebanese sources said the army planned to construct checkpoints and
towers along the border area to enforce security. The army's 10th Brigade
established bases within 1.5 kilometers of the Israeli border, the first
such deployment since 1968.
Three battalions of the army's Fifth Brigade were also deployed near the
Syrian border. Hizbullah has been receiving shipments of Iranian weapons
from Syria.
The UN has sought contributors to an enlarged international force to
help patrol southern Lebanon. So far, several NATO members, such as France
and Turkey, have refused to issue commitments amid concern that their
soldiers would become targets of Hizbullah.
"You can't send in men and tell them: 'Look at what is going on, [but]
you don't have the right to defend yourself or to shoot,'" French Defense
Minister Michele Alliot-Marie told the French radio RTL.