No Imminent Threat of War with Lebanon

Recently, tension has increased along the Israel-Lebanon border. Israel has sent warnings to the Lebanese government and to Hizbullah demanding that UNIFIL forces take more action against Hizbullah violations of the UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

Anshel Pfeffer and Barak Ravid in Haaretz report that quiet persists along the border despite Hizbullah's attempt to instigate another round of violence. With the exception of the explosion of a hidden weapons depot in southern Lebanon two weeks ago, no incidents have occurred recently.

"At the moment, there is quiet all along the border," Ashkenazi [army chief of staff] told recruits of the Kfir infantry brigade on Tuesday. "There was an incident which to our understanding was an explosion of a weapons cache belonging to Hezbollah, which is being handled by UNIFIL and the Lebanese government."

"We view the event with gravity, but we do not anticipate a disruption of quiet in the area," the IDF chief said.

Pfeffer and Barak Ravid also report:

Israel has warned Beirut through the United Nations that it would be held responsible for any hostile action launched from Lebanese territory.

In spite of the current quiet, Israeli officials reported on Monday that they fear that Hizbullah will try to organize civilian demonstrations and protests in the Har Dov area in order to create an uprising against Israel.

In addition to Israel's anger towards Hizbullah, residents of the Lebanese village Hirbet Salim are also fed up with Hizbullah's actions.

Itamar Eichner and Yaniv Halili in Yedioth Ahronoth report:

The inhabitants sent the letter in the wake of the explosion of a Hizbullah ammunitions depot in Hirbet Salim at the beginning of the month. "The exploding of the depot is what has brought us to write this letter; this overtly exposes what people have been attempting for a long time to hide and cover up - the existence of an illegal weapons depot in the midst of civilian population areas," the Lebanese wrote.

"We appeal to Hizbullah leaders and state: We are not naïve. We distinguish very well between the sounds of an explosion from a regular fire and the sounds of explosions from cluster bombs and other explosives. We already absorbed a heavy disaster and much suffering in July 2006, in what you refer to as ‘the victory'. If you are operating on a mission from Allah and the religious leadership, you must completely clear civilian areas of weapons, ammunition and anything that endangers our lives."