Cabinet meeting on Hizbullah cut short
Time constraints, previous obligations bring cabinet session on Hizbllah to premature end
The ministers were only notified of the session Tuesday night. During the discussion, IDF Intelligence, Mossad and Shin Bet officials reviewed the erosion of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which put an end to the Second Lebanon War two years ago.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni have addressed in the past day the continued weapons smuggling from Syria to Hizbullah. Israel is also concerned about the political power gained by Hizbullah as a result of clashes in Lebanon. The group has been grantd a veto right in Fouad Siniora’s Beirut government.
In light of the threat, Israel intends to launch an international offensive at the Union for the Mediterranean Committee conference organized by French President Nicolas Sarkozy this Sunday in Paris.
Officials in Israel want to broaden the UNIFIL mandate in southern Lebanon in order to implement Resolution 1701, and especially to stop the arms smuggling.
According to reports accumulating in Israel, Hizbullah presently has almost three times as many short and medium-ranged ground-to-ground missiles that can reach central and southern Israel than it possessed in the past.
Israel is acting vis-à-vis UN Security Council members and countries sending their forces to UNIFIL in southern Lebanon in order to expand their mandate.
