The Party of God continues to receive weapons and ammunition, it is strengthening its positions and even moving into areas patrolled by the Lebanese army and blue berets. On the other side, some experts maintain, that the Jewish states army needs to reinforce its military superiority, undermined in last summers war.

Beirut (AsiaNews) – Hezbollah is busy preparing for its next war with Israel, in the certainty that it will break, sooner or later.  A UN report denounces arms trade across the Lebanese Syrian border and Lebanon has confirmed indirectly that Hezbollah is re arming.  For his part leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, openly admitted that the Party of God had replaced the weapons lost in the conflict with Israel; while at the beginning of the month the Israeli army stooped a truck loaded with weapons which Hezobollah claimed was destined for them.

And while no-one actually believes that the UN resolutions which aims to impose the disarmament of Lebanese militias are applicable, the signs that the Party of God is re-arming for conflict with Israel are instead many.  For 24 years Timur Goksel was the public face of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, and the former UNIFIL spokesman, lecturer at the American University of Beiruit,  told AFP and was quoted by An Nahar as saying “Israel can't live in the Middle East with the impression that they lost to Hezbollah, a militia”. “Since 1949 they lived on their reputation of the unbeatable Israeli soldier, the invincible Jewish army, the legend. And here comes the Hezbollah who says 'We beat you.' They have to set that correct. They have no other option - they have to restore their credibility”.

“Not now, it will take Israel time to be ready. I'd say two years – he concluded - Hezbollah knows that very well and they are working on it fulltime”. This is happening even in areas patrolled by the UN’s blue berets and the Lebanese army.  The fact is that Shiite militants are well accepted by villagers, that no outsider can ever know what is really happening.

Retired Lebanese general Whebe Katisha has no doubt that Hezbollah "has retained its military potential and is preparing for the next assault. "UNIFIL knows nothing about what's going on in the Shiite zone. It's not an easy situation for the Lebanese army - we don't have enough numbers, equipment or vehicles”. The general underlines another aspect of the question: “Hezbollah is Iran's vanguard against Israel”  Katisha said. "If Iran is attacked, everyone knows that the response will begin with Hezbollah”. “Hezbollah is a great mixture of traditional guerrilla warfare and very advanced and efficient weapons”. 

While the Spanish daily El Pais, in an article dedicated to their soldiers killed in Lebanon, revealed that according to Madrid’s Ministry for Defence most of the Military UNIFL forces present on the ground are without a frequency inhibitor, a mechanism used by Spanish troops in Afghanistan, used to detect roadside bombs.

 

 

• LEBANON
• SPAIN
• AFGHANISTAN
• SYRIA
• IRAN
• HEZBOLLAH
• ISRAEL
• WAR
• ARMS
• UNIFIL