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Hizbullah: The Unfinished War

[Jerusalem Post] Jonathan Spyer - The explosion in the south Lebanese village of Tayr Felseir offers the latest evidence of how Hizbullah is rebuilding its infrastructure following the Second Lebanon War in 2006, constructing arms caches and permanent fortifications in private homes. Hizbullah's decision to make use of populated areas is primarily a result of the increased presence of UNIFIL and Lebanese Armed Forces personnel in the area south of the Litani River, since operating within residential areas has served to render its renewed military infrastructure largely off-limits to international inspection. UN peacekeepers who investigated a similar explosion in Khirbet Silm on July 14 concluded that the site contained large quantities of 107 mm. Katyusha rockets, heavy machine gun rounds and mortar tubes of a type used by Hizbullah. UNIFIL remains deployed mainly in unpopulated areas and enters Shi'ite villages only with a Lebanese army escort, doing its best to stay out of the way of Hizbullah and the civilian population. Ultimately, the situation in southern Lebanon is a facet of a larger problem, the existence of a Hizbullah state within a state, which answers only to its own leadership and its Iranian patrons. The writer is a senior researcher at the Global Research in International Affairs Center, IDC, Herzliya.
2009-10-20 06:00:00
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