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Hizbullah Has Regained Control over Southern Lebanon
(Ha'aretz) Avi Issacharoff - Four years after the Second Lebanon War, southern Lebanon is once again in Hizbullah's hands. It has rebuilt its military capabilities north of the Litani River, where it has established a network of missile launchers any army in the world would be proud to possess. Furthermore, it has repaired the infrastructure of the Shi'ite villages south of the Litani that were severely hit in the war. UNIFIL, which was deployed to southern Lebanon in 2006 in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1701 - passed at the end of the war - was supposed to prevent such activity. In recent months, however, UNIFIL has been harassed by Shi'ite villagers in the south who are apparently acting on Hizbullah's orders. UNIFIL's commander, Maj. Gen. Alberto Asarta Cuevas, has asked the Lebanese government to protect his troops. Thus, one of Israel's chief accomplishments in the war - distancing Hizbullah from its northern frontier - is slowly vanishing.