Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said Wednesday that the IDF would halt its withdrawal from southern Lebanon if the Lebanese army did not deploy in the area within days.
"The withdrawal of the IDF within 10 days is dependent upon the deployment of the Lebanese army," Halutz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Commitee, according to a spokesman.
"If the Lebanese army does not move down within a number of days to the south...the way I see it, we must stop our withdrawal," Halutz added.
Ah, so that's how it works, huh? I didn't realize that Israel calls the shots in other nations.
Israel's defense minister creates committee to investigate conduct of Lebanon war
OK, seriously...this committee will be about as effective as the 9/11 committee was for us.
Hezbollah Leads Work to Rebuild, Gaining Stature
As stunned Lebanese returned Tuesday over broken roads to shattered apartments in the south, it increasingly seemed that the beneficiary of the destruction was most likely to be Hezbollah.
A major reason -- in addition to its hard-won reputation as the only Arab force that fought Israel to a standstill -- is that it is already dominating the efforts to rebuild with a torrent of money from oil-rich Iran.
Nehme Y. Tohme, a member of Parliament from the anti-Syrian reform bloc and the country’s minister for the displaced, said he had been told by Hezbollah officials that when the shooting stopped, Iran would provide Hezbollah with an "unlimited budget" for reconstruction.
In his victory speech on Monday night, Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, offered money for "decent and suitable furniture" and a year's rent on a house to any Lebanese who lost his home in the month-long war.
"Completing the victory," he said, "can come with reconstruction."
Hamas, Fatah to renew unity government negotiations
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a leader of the militant Hamas group, said on Wednesday they would renew negotiations to form a unity government that might ease international isolation.
Lebanon skirts issue of Hezbollah's arms
The Lebanese Cabinet agreed Wednesday to deploy the Lebanese army south of the Litani River starting the next day, a key demand of the cease-fire that halted 34 days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. But it left unclear the issue of disarming the Islamic militant group.
The government ordered the army, which has been assembling north of the river, to "insure respect" for the Blue Line, the U.N.-demarcated border between Lebanon and Israel, and "apply the existing laws with regard to any weapons outside the authority of the Lebanese state."
That provision does not require Hezbollah to give up its arms, but rather directs them to keep them off the streets. "There will be no authority or weapons other than those of the state," said Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said.
Hezbollah's top official in south Lebanon said the group welcomed the Lebanese army's deployment even as he hinted that the Shiite guerrillas would not disarm in the region or withdraw but rather melt into the local population and hide their weapons.
"Just like in the past, Hezbollah had no visible military presence and there will not be any visible presence now," Sheik Nabil Kaouk told reporters Wednesday in the southern port city of Tyre.
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