Tuesday, August 03, 2010

FIL Fails to Uphold Mandate to Stop Iran-backed Hezbollah

The Israel Project

On 4th Anniversary of Israel’s 2006 Defensive War, Hezbollah Amasses Weaponry,Troops on Northern Border

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was originally created in 1978 by UN Security Council resolutions 425 and 426 following the 1978 South Lebanon Conflict. Its original mission included a mandate to restore international peace, confirm Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and ensure the authority of the Lebanese government. Following Israel’s month-long defensive war against Hezbollah in 2006, the UN Security Council approved Resolution 1701 to end the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. The resolution increased the number of forces on the Israel-Lebanon border to 15,000.[1]

Resolution 1701 also strengthened the previous UNIFIL mandate. The peacekeeping force now has wider responsibilities and the authority to:

* Assist the Lebanese government in protecting its borders and preventing the entry of illegal arms and other material;
* Support the Lebanese armed forces in their deployment throughout the south and along the Blue Line (the Israel-Lebanon border);
* Establish coordination of its activities with the Lebanese and Israeli governments;
* Assist in ensuring that humanitarian aid reaches civilian populations and safely return displaced people;
* Establish, together with the Lebanese armed forces, an area between the Litani River and the Blue Line free of armed personnel or weapons other than for those of the Lebanon government or UNIFIL troops deployed in the area.[2]

Hezbollah Rearmament and UNSC Resolution 1701 Violations

Hezbollah has increased its rocket and missile arsenal to at least 40,000 rockets.[3] These include the Iranian Zelzal with a range of up to 186 miles (300km), the Syrian M-600 which has a range of 155 miles (250km) and the Iranian Fateh 110 has a range of 105 miles (170km). These weapons could easily hit major Israeli population centers in Tel Aviv and the Israeli coastal region.[4]

There have also been reports that Syria has delivered medium-range ballistic Scud missiles to Hezbollah, a claim confirmed by the head of the IDF’s Military Intelligence Research Division.[5]


Hezbollah’s Violations of UNSC Resolution 1701

2010

* May 29: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirms that Syria has provided Hezbollah with medium-range Scud ballistic missiles, which are maintained by Hezbollah from a base within Syria.[6]

* May 4: The head of the Israeli army’s Military Intelligence Research Division Brigadier-General Yossi Baidatz states that Iran and Syria are conducting organized arms transfers to Hezbollah which can no longer be classified merely as arms smuggling. Rockets such as the Zelzal, Fateh 110 and M-600, all of which can reach the heavily populated coastal region of Israel, are being transferred by Iran and Syria to Hezbollah.[7]

2009

* Dec. 26: A UNIFIL force uncovers a number of weapons caches just outside a village in southern Lebanon. The caches contained dozens of improvised explosive devices, most likely manufactured in Iran and Syria.[8]

* Nov 5: The Israeli navy interdicts the Francop, a ship found to be carrying 500 tons of weapons destined for Hezbollah via the Syrian port of Latakia.[9]

* Oct. 12: A Hezbollah arms depot located in the house of a Hezbollah operative in the village of Tair Filsay in southern Lebanon explodes, injuring several people. Hezbollah operatives arrive to seal off the scene from UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army and remove remaining weapons and evidence of the explosion. Aerial footage taken by the IDF shows rockets and rocket launchers being removed from the house. [10]

* July 14: A Hezbollah arms depot in the village of Khirbet Silim in southern Lebanon explodes. It appears that the arms cache contained rockets, machine gun ammunition, mortar shells and artillery shells. Following the explosion, Hezbollah forces arrive at the scene, prevent UNIFIL from inspecting the site and clear all traces of the arms depot. The existence of the arms cache in southern Lebanon violates the terms of UNSC Resolution 1701 which stipulates that there should be no armed presence in southern Lebanon other than UNIFIL and the Lebanese army. [11]

* April 13: Suspects tied to a Hezbollah cell in Egypt admit to plotting attacks on Egyptian soil and weapons smuggling activity across the Gaza-Egypt border to Hamas. Several of the suspects had smuggled weapons from Lebanese intermediaries to terrorists in the Gaza Strip.[12]

* Feb. 21: A Katyusha rocket is fired from Lebanon and lands next to a house in northern Israel, injuring three civilians. [13]

* Jan. 14: Palestinian militant groups launch two Katyusha rockets from southern Lebanon into northern Israel, one of which hits an old-age home in Nahariya. [14]

2008

* Nov. 21: Hezbollah holds military exercises south of the Litani River, in violation of UNSC Resolution 1701, which prohibits any Hezbollah activity south of the Litani.[15]

* May 27: Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV reports that Hezbollah conducts a military exercise in an undisclosed location, in which terrorists storm a hill representing an IDF post. Hezbollah members are filmed firing various weapons. The possession of any weapons by Hezbollah is explicitly prohibited by UNSC Resolution 1701.[16]

* Jan. 8: A roadside bomb detonates as a UNIFIL vehicle travels on the coastal highway near the southern Lebanese city of Sidon. Two UNIFIL soldiers are wounded in the attack. The UN Security Council condemns the attack.[17]

* Jan. 8: Two Katyusha rockets are fired at the northern Israeli town of Shlomi. It seems likely Fatah al-Islam or related groups were responsible for the attack. The UN Security Council issues a press statement strongly condemning the rocket attacks.[18]



The Intensifying Iran-Syria Alliance

The Iran-Syria alliance strengthened in 2010, with both countries pledging during a February meeting in Damascus to establish a Middle East "without Zionists."[19]

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at a press conference with Syrian President Bashar al Assad during his visit, "The Americans want to dominate the region but they feel Iran and Syria are preventing that. We tell them that instead of interfering in the region's affairs to pack their things and leave. If the Zionist entity wants to repeats its past errors, its death will be inevitable."[20]

In the meantime, the United States is seeking to repair relations with Damascus, reinstating its U.S. ambassador there after a five-year absence in an effort to encourage Syria "to begin to move away from the relationship with Iran, which is so deeply troubling to the region as well as to the United States," Clinton said.[21]

In June 2010, Syrian Vice President Farouq ash-Shara' met with Ahmadinejad in Tehran, during which the Iranian president said, "Iran and Syria are growing stronger by the day, while our common enemies are in a position of weakness. This is because of the brotherhood which exists between our nations."[22]



[1] "UNIFIL," United Nations Web site, accessed June 25, 2007, http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unifil/mandate.html; “UNIFIL: Facts and Figures,” http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unifil/facts.html. Accessed June 22, 2009

[2] "UNIFIL," United Nations Web site, accessed June 25, 2007, http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unifil/mandate.html

[3] Mcgregor-Wood, Simon, “Scud Missiles to Hezbollah Raising Mideast Tensions,” ABC News, April 13, 2010, http://abcnews.go.com/International/scud-missile-shipment-hezbollah-raises-mideast-tensions/story?id=10361973

[4] Lis, Jonathan; Harel, Amos, “Syria gave advanced M-600 missiles to Hezbollah, defense officials claim,” Haaretz, May 5, 2010, http://www.haaretz.com/news/syria-gave-advanced-m-600-missiles-to-hezbollah-defense-officials-claim-1.288356; Harel, Amos, “Defense officials: Renew diplomatic pressure on Syria as Hezbollah rearms,” Haaretz, July 13, 2008, http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/defense-officials-renew-diplomatic-pressure-on-syria-as-hezbollah-rearms-1.249590; “Netanyahu: Israel Not Planning War with Iran,” al Manar, February 17, 2010, http://www.almanar.com.lb/NewsSite/NewsDetails.aspx?id=124886&searchText=hezbollah&language=en

[5] Lis, Jonathan; Harel, Amos, “Syria gave advanced M-600 missiles to Hezbollah, defense officials claim,” Haaretz, May 5, 2010, http://www.haaretz.com/news/syria-gave-advanced-m-600-missiles-to-hezbollah-defense-officials-claim-1.288356

[6] Somfalvi, Attila “Netanyahu: Hezbollah operating Scuds from Syria,” YnetNews, May 29, 2010, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3895828,00.html

[7] Lis, Jonathan; Harel, Amos, “Syria gave advanced M-600 missiles to Hezbollah, defense officials claim,” Haaretz, May 5, 2010, http://www.haaretz.com/news/syria-gave-advanced-m-600-missiles-to-hezbollah-defense-officials-claim-1.288356

[8] “Further Evidence of Hezbollah’s Military Activity,” Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Jan. 7, 2010, http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hezbollah_e016.htm;

[9] “500 Tons of Weapons for Hezbollah Intercepted by Israeli Navy, 4 Nov 2009,” Israel Defense Force Spokesperson, November 5, 2009, http://idfspokesperson.com/2009/11/04/500-tons-of-weapons-for-hezbollah-intercepted-by-israeli-navy-4-nov-2009/

[10] “Explosions at Hezbollah arms caches in villages south of the Litani,” Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Oct. 14, 2009, http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/hezbollah_e014.pdf

[11] “Explosion in Hezbollah weapons depot in the village of Khirbet Silim,” Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Aug. 3, 2009, http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/pdf/hezbollah_e012.pdf

[12] Slackman, Michael, “Egypt accuses Hezbollah of plotting attacks and arms smuggling to Gaza,” The New York Times, April 13, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/world/middleeast/14egypt.html

[13] “Israel fires complaint with U.N. over Katyushas,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Feb. 24, 2009, http://jta.org/news/article/2009/02/24/1003225/israel-fires-complaint-with-un-over-katyushas#When:13:27:00Z

[14] Melman, Yossi, Harei, Amos, “Hezbollah behind Lebanon rocket strikes in north,” Haaretz, Jan. 18, 2009, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1056436.html

[15] Ravid, barak, “Report: Hezbollah carries out military drills in south Lebanon,”, Haaretz, Nov. 22, 2008, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1039872.html

[16] “Hezbollah conducted a military exercise,” Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center, June 5, 2008, http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hezbollah_0608e.htm

[17] “Irish UN officers wounded in Lebanon blast,”, Agence France-Presse, Jan. 8, 2008, http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iLffTEgyYP2na3GhnDA3W1GG3Q6Q

[18] Raved, Ahiya, “2 Katyushas fired from Lebanon at western Galilee,” YnetNews, Jan. 8, 2008 http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3491611,00.html; “Security Council press statement on Lebanon,” ReliefWeb, Jan. 11, 2008, http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/YSAR-7ARR2W?OpenDocument

[19] Schneider, Howard, “Iran, Syria mock U.S. policy; Ahmadinejad speaks of Israel's 'annihilation',” The Washington Post, Feb. 26, 2010, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/25/AR2010022505089.html

[20] Black, Ian, “Iran and Syria put on show of unity in alliance Clinton finds 'troubling'.” The Guardian, Feb. 25, 2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/25/syria-iran-alliance-clinton-america-israel

[21] Black, Ian, “Iran and Syria put on show of unity in alliance Clinton finds 'troubling'.” The Guardian, Feb. 25, 2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/25/syria-iran-alliance-clinton-america-israel

[22] “President: Iran, Syria Alliance Scuppers Enemies' Plots,” Irib Radio, June 23, 2010, http://english.irib.ir/news/political/item/62533-president-iran-syria-alliance-scuppers-enemies-plots

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