Report: Hezbollah drills in South Lebanon, violating UN Security Council Res. 1701

'Hizbullah conducting drills in south'

Nov. 22, 2008
, THE JERUSALEM POST

Hizbullah has begun a series of military exercises on Saturday morning in the area south of the Litani River, in southern Lebanon, despite such activities being in violation of United Nations Resolution 1701, Al-Arabiya television reported.

According to the reports, the maneuvers were conducted without the use of live weapons, and were meant to mimic a secret deployment of operatives in the mountains in the south of the country, near the border with Israel.

The Jerusalem Post could not confirm the report. Hizbullah refused to comment about the exercises to the television station.

The UN Resolution 1701, which was passed in order to end the Second Lebanon War, called for a full cessation of hostilities, and demanded that all paramilitary forces vacate the area south of the Litani River.

Former head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense subcommittee, MK Yuval Steinitz (Likud), used the report to take a political snipe at Knesset chairwoman Tzipi Livni.

"Hizbullah's exercises in south Lebanon show UN Resolution 1701, which was lauded at the time by [Foreign Minister] Tzipi Livni, in its flesh," Steinitz said.

"Today it is clear that the decisions and failures of [Prime Minister Ehud Olmert] and Livni only led to the strengthening of Hizbullah and the increase of the missile and terror threat on Israel," he said.