The Israeli Chief of staff told the Knesset’s Foreign Committee that “with lots of wishes and a little bit of information” the situation in Lebanon will probably deteriorate following the issuance of an indictment by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) over the assassination of former PM martyr Rafiq Hariri.
Although the date of issuing the indictment has not been set yet, Ashkenazi predicted it will be in September and insinuated that it will implicate Hezbollah. The Israeli general’s comments were seen as momentous particularly that he made them in front of a committee involved in Israel’s strategic policies.
Reports in Germany’s Der Spiegel and France’s Le Figaro have sought to implicate Hezbollah in Hariri’s assassination in 2005. The party categorically refuted the allegations and lashed out at the International Independent Investigation Commission (IIIC) for leaking information to the media.
Some Hezbollah members have been interviewed by the investigation committee as witnesses. The Party’s Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah stressed in a speech in March that Israel was the first to point its finger at Hezbollah. “Israel failed to eliminate the party during the 2006 July War, and Hariri’s assassination became their final weapon and their last card to play against the Resistance,” Sayyed Nasrallah said. His eminence added that Hezbollah will cooperate with the STL, “however if there are more leaks and the false witnesses remain protected, the party has the right to take a different stance.”
Ashkenazi went on to describe the situation in Lebanon saying that the northern front (the Lebanese-Palestinian border) has been “relatively calm.” He put the recent incident between the United Nations Interim Forces in South Lebanon (UNIFIL) and some southern residents in the framework of what he called “the struggle between Hezbollah and the international force.”
The General’s testimony came after a senior Israeli officer claimed that Hezbollah has erected outposts adjacent to hospitals, schools, and public buildings south of Lebanon. Speaking to the Israel Radio, the officer threatened to “target the outpost” and that Tel Aviv had informed the UNIFIL command of its decision. Israel has a history that is rife with targeting civilians in Lebanon and Palestine, and it has never been punished by the international community
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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