Israel-Hizbullah saber rattling raises UN concerns

BEIRUT: The intensification of violent rhetoric between Israel and Lebanon was to be discussed Wednesday during a United Nations Security Council meeting on UN chief Ban Ki-moon's most recent report on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701, a UN spokesman has said.

The verbal exchanges between Hizbullah and Israel are a concern, Farhan Haq, the associate spokesman for the Secretary General, told The Daily Star Wednesday. "In recent weeks you have seen an escalation of rhetoric," he said, particularly threats involving civilian targets and infrastructure.

The council meeting, scheduled for 3 p.m. local time in New York, was tasked with discussing Ban's entire report on 1701, which includes concerns over Israeli and Lebanese saber rattling, Haq said.

He added that Michael Williams, the UN special representative to Lebanon, will be present at the meeting.

Ban's report, obtained by The Daily Star last week, voiced distinct unease about the reciprocal Israeli-Lebanese threats. "I am disturbed by the repeated exchange of threats between Israel and Hizbullah, in particular when apparently directed against the civilians," the secretary general said.

Ban added that the coming months provide Lebanon and Israel with a unique opportunity to make further progress in implementing 1701, which ended hostilities in the 2006 summer war. Ban called upon Lebanese and Israeli leaders to "seize the moment that is afforded them, for the good of their peoples and for the stability of the region."

Haq said that Williams had spoken with relevant Lebanese parties about the escalating rhetoric, and that Ban had spoken with Israeli Prime Minster Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Lebanese Premier Fouad Siniora about implementing the resolution, defusing tensions, and a potential Israeli pullout from the occupied Southern village of Ghajar.

But despite Ban's call, Israeli and Lebanese officials have continued to exchange militaristic warnings.

On Monday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, echoing previous Israeli threats, told the Knesset that "the integration of Hizbullah into the Lebanese state exposes Lebanon and its infrastructure to in-depth attacks in the event of a new conflict."

Barak also alleged that Hizbullah had increased its military capacity "three-fold" since the 2006 war.

Barak's comments coincided with the leak of an Israeli intelligence survey, cataloguing the threats facing Israel and laying out a regional plan of action. According to news reports on the intelligence survey, missiles in Hizbullah's 42,000-strong arsenal include long-range Iranian-made Zelzal missiles that can travel 250 kilometers.

On Tuesday, Hizbullah's international relations chief, Nawaf Moussawi, said that although Hizbullah was not seeking war, "the resistance in Lebanon is more ready than the Israeli Army to engage in a military battle."

In comments widely published in the local press Wednesday, Speaker Nabih Berri expressed concern over the divisions within Lebanon in the face of the Israeli threats. "It's a pity," he said, "that the Israelis are encouraged to unite in the case of war with Lebanon while in Lebanon people under the same conditions are calling for the disarmament of the resistance."

But Berri also noted that the rhetoric had a political dimension. "People in Lebanon who want to disarm Hizbullah are doing so for electoral purposes, the same way Barak is issuing threats against Lebanon for electoral purposes," Berri said.

"Israel will not leave Lebanon alone," he said, stressing that the Lebanese should unite in the face of Israeli threats.

Also commenting on the rhetoric, retired Lebanese General and analyst Elias Hanna expressed similar sentiments, saying that the threats should be placed in a "political context."

"[The Israelis] are within political turmoil," Hanna told The Daily Star, "and [Barak's threats] could be used internally for politically purposes before the upcoming elections."

"The Israelis are sending a lot of messages all over," Hanna said, "starting with Iran to Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, as well as the incoming administration in the US."

But he added that for Israel "Hizbullah is still the enemy."

When asked whether the rhetoric could escalate into a military conflict, Hanna said, "Not now."

By Nicholas Kimbrell