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UN Failure in Southern Lebanon Will Lead to Future Civilian Casualties

(Facebook) Dore Gold - In recent days, the New York Times and other major media ran stories detailing how Hizbullah was building up a vast military arsenal in hundreds of Shiite villages just north of the Israeli-Lebanese border. After the Second Lebanon War in 2006, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1701, which established in southern Lebanon - between the Israeli-Lebanese border and the Litani River - "an area free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons" other than those of the Government of Lebanon or the UN. In other words, Hizbullah was supposed to be kept out of this area - not only its fighters but also its thousands of rockets aimed at Israel. Today, Hizbullah - supplied, trained, and funded by Iran - is building new military strongholds in Lebanese border villages. By doing so, Hizbullah has turned Lebanese civilians into human shields - much like Hamas did in Gaza. Hizbullah's rearmament is a blatant violation of Resolution 1701. Is anyone stopping this? UNIFIL, the UN force in Lebanon, was supposed to oversee the implementation of Resolution 1701. But does anyone think UNIFIL is going to enter a Shiite village in southern Lebanon and remove rockets stored in houses? The UN is thus leaving Israel with a horrible choice if war breaks out again: Either the IDF will have to destroy the weapons now being stored in southern Lebanon, or let Hizbullah fire thousands of rockets into Israel. Under the laws of war, Israel will have every right to destroy a house that has become a legitimate military target. Shouldn't the UN avert this outcome by taking action now? Don't hold your breath. The writer, a former Israeli ambassador to the UN, is president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
2015-05-21 00:00:00
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