VIDEO - Hizbullah troops conducted a series of military maneuvers in southern Lebanon on Saturday, the al-Arabiya television network reported.
The exercises were carried out in defiance of UN Resolution 1701, which determined that the region south of the Litani River would be demilitarized.
The maneuvers were held in conjunction with a celebratory parade in Beirut by the Lebanese army to mark 65 years of Lebanese independence.
Hizbullah has not commented on the reports thus far.
Several months ago Israel’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations complained that Resolution 1701 was not being implemented, that Hizbullah has not disarmed and that the new policies set by the Lebanese government awards the group a dangerous legitimacy.
MK Yuval Steinitz (Likud), former chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said on Saturday that the military maneuvers conducted by Hizbullah “show UN Resolution 1701, which Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was so proud of at the time, for what it really is.”
Steinitz said “today it has become apparent that the decisions and failures of (Prime Minister) Olmert and Livni only led to the strengthening of Hizbullah, and the increase of the rocket and terror threat against Israel.”
Current estimates put Hizbullah’s projectile stockpile at around 40,000 missiles and rockets on both sides of the Litani. The long-range missiles, which is only believed to be in the hundreds, has warheadsweighing hundreds of kilograms and a range of 250km – these are situated north of the Litani on land purchased by Hizbullah.
In southern Lebanon the organization has constructed a fortified underground system, from the safety of which Hizbullah is to combat Israel’s armor and infantry corps should they advance on the missiles north of the Litani.