Truce in Lebanon hangs by a thread as people try to rebuild
Beirut (AsiaNews) The nine-day truce in Lebanon appears increasingly tenuous as the United Nations struggles to find European countries willing to commit forces to keep the peace between Israel and Hezbollah.
Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France Germany Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal and Spain have so far said that they would contribute to the mission but their numbers fall short of the 15,000 soldiers needed in southern Lebanon to give UNIFIL muscle. Along with 15,000 Lebanese soldiers, they would monitor the cease-fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli army.
Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Nepal are among the extra-European countries which have offered to send troops, but Israel has rejected soldiers from any country that does not have diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.
The European Union is scheduled to meet tomorrow to discuss its own role in the affair.
Meanwhile, despite UN optimism, the August 14 truce has been repeatedly violated. Yesterday Israeli troops killed two Hezbollah fighters "in legitimate defence", a claim Hezbollah had denied.
The Lebanese government announced in a clear warning to Hezbollah that any group that violates the truce will be treated as "a traitor to Lebanon" and punished accordingly.
At the heart of the current public debate among the Lebanese is Hezbollah's disarmament. In a meeting with members of his Kataeb party, former President Amin Gemayel criticised how UN Resolution 1701 (which does not mention Hezbollah's disarmament) "is being implemented" and how the "Party of God acquired prestige at the expense of the Lebanese".
He told AsiaNews that it was necessary to "disarm Hezbollah and leave weapons to the Lebanese army" because if Hezbollah keeps its weapons stopping new Israeli attacks will be impossible.
By contrast, General Michel Aoun said that "Hezbollah's victory is that every Lebanese" because the Lebanese backed each other during the war. Answering a question from AsiaNews about the possibility that Hezbollah will set up an "Islamic state" in Lebanon, he said that Hezbollah have "given up that goal long time ago" and that they unreservedly support a democratic Lebanese state.
Lebanese army troops continue their deployment. Some six thousands have already made their way to southern Lebanon and the Bekaa valley.
Many people displaced by the conflict are also making their way back home. Khadijeh, a Shia woman, told AsiaNews that she had confidence in the Lebanese army but called on the government to hurry and bring aid. Hezbollah is already doing that on its own with families getting about US$ 12,000.
Kadijeh is grateful to the people of Zouk Mosbeh parish church, where she found refuge during the war. "They put up me and my family me like brothers with no thought about religion."
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