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Israel Complains to UN after Hizbullah Drills Takeover of Israeli Communities
(Al-Monitor) Ben Caspit - Hizbullah staged an unprecedented show of force in mid-May in southern Lebanon, with a military drill simulating special forces penetrating Israel and taking over Israeli communities. Yet a senior Israeli military source told Al-Monitor, "There really was nothing new here. We know what Hizbullah has and we don't need showcase maneuvers to learn about it. In our opinion, this extravagant exercise was a mistake and caused damage to Hizbullah in quite a few areas." The exercise provoked domestic Lebanese anger against Hizbullah, and also drew considerable criticism in the Sunni Arab world, which sees Hizbullah as a collaborator of Iran. Moreover, Hizbullah's drill underscored Israel's claims that Hizbullah was constantly violating UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which ended the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war and banned maneuvers along the border. In fact, Israel submitted a formal complaint against Lebanon on Thursday to the UN Security Council, over what Israel called "Hizbullah's provocations."