In the latest spat between Israel and its neighbors, the Israeli government has accused the Lebanese government of aiding Hezbollah in its continued military acitivities in southern Lebanon, using the recent arms cache explosion as evidence.
In a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, Israeli UN Envoy Gabriela Shalev said that:
an arms cache that consisted of Hezbollah arms, including rockets, mortars, artillery shells, grenades, and additional ammunition which had been brought to the area following the Second Lebanon War.Shalev also stated that this, along with other evidence, points to direct violations of Security Council Resolution 1701 by Hezbollah, which calls for the disarmament of all non-UN actors in the south of Lebanon. Shalev cited statistics that show Hezbollah has stored more than 20,000 rockets south of the Litani River, the demarcation of where weapons are banned.
The Israeli representative went on to accuse the Lebanese government of directly interfering in the disarmament process. After the explosion in the arms cache, Shalev alleges that the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was prevented from investigating the incident. Shalev writes that this is:
all the more severe because an official organ of the Lebanese state - the Lebanese Army - delayed UNIFIL from fulfilling its obligations. As such, this obstruction of movement must be denounced in very clear and robust terms.The response of the Lebanese government has been to say that the cache "was an arms dump dating from the July war" between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, though Israel disputes this, with an Israel military leader stating that it was "a new stock of short-range rockets."
The United Nations has stated that the weapons were stored in an abandoned building in Khirbet Selm, 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the border with Israel. No one is reported injured from the explosion. UNIFIL called the arms cache a "serious violation" of the cease-fire and Resolution 1701.
In conjunction with its criticism of the Lebanese government, Israel accused Syria and Iran of continuing to send weapons to Hezbollah illegally. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said:
Iranian and Syrian efforts to continue to transfer weapons to Hezbollah in direct and flagrant violation" of the U.N. cease-fire that ended the war.An anonymous Israeli military official alleges that dozens of other similar arms depots have been set up by Hezbollah across southern Lebanon with Iranian and Syrian support, thus increasing Hezbollah's strength in the region.
HEADLINES
Israel anti-missile system passes live fire test (AP)
Fatal blasts hit Jakarta hotels (BBC)
Barak tells U.S. aide: I support talks with Syria (Ha'aretz)
West Bank economy on the mend, says IMF (AFP)
Jerusalem court and ultra-Orthodox reach deal (AP)
Palestine and the Palestinians
Breathing life back into Nablus (BBC)
Abbas rejects accusations over his role in Arafat's death (Xinhua)
'No threat' to Palestinian identity (Gulf News)
Why Palestinian leaders have banned Al Jazeera (Christian Science Monitor)
In Jerusalem, battle of Palestinian day camps (Christian Science Monitor)
Palestinians want independent mail service (Globes)
Settlers threaten to set Hebron ablaze if road opened to Palestinians (Ma'an)
Israel
Israel police near end of probe into controversial FM (AFP)
Thetis, Israel Electric eye $700 mln gas deal-report (Reuters)
Israel concerned with medicine addiction: report (Xinhua)
First Gaza rocket for a month hits Israel: army (AFP)
Ultra-Orthodox Jews visit Hamas (BBC)
Israel may admit 3,000 Ethiopia migrants if Jews (Reuters)
Israeli and Palestinian religious teachers to meet in Tel Hai (Jerusalem Post)
Israel's military message to Iran (BBC)
Tourism to Israel decreases (UPI)
The Neighbors
Moscow will not interfere in cabinet formation - Sultanov (Daily Star)
Undeterred by law Saudi bloggers test boundaries (Gulf News)
Palestinian prisoner released in Lebanon (Amnesty International)
Paltel Boss to Take Over Zain's Merged Palestinian-Jordan Operations (Cellular News)
US Foreign Policy
Syria's support for Hizbullah 'stands in way' of ties with US (Daily Star)
A Lebanon devoted to democracy has a friend in the US - Clinton (Daily Star)
In Mauritanian Election, a Test for Washington Election (Wall Street Journal)
Hamas hails talks with ex-US diplomat (Jerusalem Post)
U.S. Agrees to Resettle Palestinians Displaced by Iraq War (Wall Street Journal)
Foreign Policy Address at the Council on Foreign Relations - Question and Answer Session (US State Department)
International Relations/Law
Call for Iran protesters' release (BBC)
Rupture of the regime? Iran’s nuclear chief quits (Christian Science Monitor)
Could Israel-Iran standoff turn violent? (Reuters)
Goldstone: Israel should cooperate (Jerusalem Post)
Around 2,000 French Jews to move to Israel this year (AFP)
Israel's Peres to visit Russia in mid-August (AFP)
Turkey: EU Call For Palestinian State Deadline May Not Work (Easy Bourse)
Arts and Activism
Organization sets up Google ad campaign to counter Israel boycott calls (Jerusalem Post)
Young Israelis sail for Shalit (Ynet)
Misc.
Group of American businessmen hopes to bring baseball back to Israel (Ha'aretz)
Commentary
Olmert: How to Achieve a Lasting Peace (Washington Post)
Clinton Outlines Continuation of Bush Policies Under Obama at CFR (Foreign Policy Journal)
Change the policy, or change the subject? (NJJN)
Obama meets the Lobby (Foreign Policy)
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