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Hizbullah Rebuilding South of the Litani

[Jerusalem Post] Jonathan Spyer - On June 27, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued his latest report on the implementation of Resolution 1701, adopted after the 2006 war with Hizbullah. The report noted Israeli claims that Hizbullah was in the process of rebuilding its military capacity in the south, but found "no evidence of new military infrastructure in the area of operations." A possible explanation is to be found by observing UNIFIL's patterns of deployment. A visitor to southern Lebanon will be immediately struck by the absence of international and Lebanese army forces in populated areas. UNIFIL carries out patrols exclusively along recognized patrol paths and in rural areas. Given the physical absence of UN forces from any of the areas where evidence of Hizbullah infrastructure-building has emerged, it is not surprising that UNIFIL reports "no evidence" that such activity is taking place. In general, the two sides appear to do their best to stay out of each other's way. The infrastructure for the next war is currently being built, woven into the fabric of civilian life, a few miles north of Israel's border. The writer is a senior research fellow at the Global Research in International Affairs Center, IDC, Herzliya.
2008-10-24 01:00:00
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