Hezballah rearms in defiance of UN

Times:

Three years after Israel fought a bloody war in Lebanon against Hezbollah, there are fears that hostilities could erupt again — this time with the militant group better armed than ever.

According to Israeli, United Nations and Hezbollah officials, the Shia Muslim militia is stronger than it was in 2006 when it took on the Israeli army in a war that killed 1,191 Lebanese and 43 Israeli civilians.

Hezbollah has up to 40,000 rockets and is training its forces to use ground-to-ground missiles capable of hitting Tel Aviv, and anti-aircraft missiles that could challenge Israel’s dominance of the skies over Lebanon.

Brigadier-General Alon Friedman, the deputy head of the Israeli Northern Command, told The Times from his headquarters overlooking the Israeli-Lebanese border that the peace of the past three years could “explode at any minute”.

His concerns were due partly to threats from Hezbollah’s leadership. Last month Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, warned that if the southern suburbs of Beirut were bombed as they were in the last war, he would strike back against Tel Aviv, the largest Israeli city.

“We have changed the equation that had existed previously,” he said. “Now the southern suburbs versus Tel Aviv, and not Beirut versus Tel Aviv.”

Hezbollah’s rearming is in the name of resistance against Israel. The real reason, however, probably has more to do with its ally Iran. If Israel carries out its threat to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, the main retaliation is likely to come from Hezbollah in Lebanon.

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Hezballah's war with Israel was a strategic defeat for it and Iran since with all its rocket which were aimed mainly at non combatants, It was not able to do significant damage to Israel while Lebanon suffered greatly because of Hezballah's irresponsible acts. The rearmament is meant to be a deterrent to Israel's promised attack on Iran's nuclear facility. It want deter that attack and it will cause more significant damage to Lebanon.

The rearmament is a serious violation of the UN cease fire agreement, but you can bet that the UN will do nothing even when it is evident. An explosion of a Hezballah bunker near Israel revealed some of the build up last month. UN officals acknowledge the violation but have asked for no sanctions or any actions against Hezballah.