Lebanon: Israeli raid violated cease-fire

Saturday, August 19, 2006; Posted: 11:32 a.m. EDT (15:32 GMT)
 
JERUSALEM -- Lebanon's defense minister is threatening to halt the deployment of troops to the country's south after Israeli commandos carried out a raid deep inside the country on Saturday.

An adviser to Lebanon's Defense Minister Elias Murr told CNN the defense minister would consider the move if the United Nations did not ensure Israel was abiding by U.N. Resolution 1701.

Hezbollah was sticking by the cease-fire, he added.

The Israel Defense Forces, however, defended the operation, saying it was a successful move aimed at preventing and disrupting the transfer of weapons from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah.

One Israeli officer was killed and two more were wounded in the Saturday morning operation carried out by an elite unit in Bekaa Valley, the IDF said.

After successfully landing two vehicles by helicopter in Bouday, located in the Bekaa Valley, IDF forces reportedly clashed with Hezbollah forces, a Baalbeck Civil Defense official said.

The fighting resulted in Israeli airstrikes in the area, located about 15 miles from the Lebanese-Syrian border -- a long-time Hezbollah stronghold.

The official said the clashes did not result in any Lebanese army or Hezbollah casualties.

Cease-fire agreement
This latest development comes amid a U.N.-backed cease-fire agreement that outlines the gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon's southern region -- the former stronghold of the militant group Hezbollah.

Israel says arms transfers to Hezbollah are a violation of 1701 and Israel is entitled to respond to them.

"The cease-fire is based on (U.N. resolution) 1701 which calls for an international arms embargo against Hezbollah," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Saturday.

Earlier, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora condemned the Israeli operation conducted in southern Lebanon, calling it a violation of the U.N.-sanctioned cease-fire, officials with the prime minister's office said.

Meanwhile, Hassan Hobballaha, a Hezbollah member of the Lebanese Parliament, called the move "proof that the Israeli enemy is still carrying on with its aggression...and that it doesn't care about the resolutions taken by the U.N. Security Council.

"As we have stressed before, it is attacking Lebanon and has greediness in this country," he said. "Therefore we do not consider what happened as new for the enemy, but the resistance is still insisting that it will fight against any Israeli attempt."

Lebanon approves deployment
The Lebanese Cabinet approved the deployment of 15,000 soldiers to the border between Lebanon and Israel, beginning Thursday.

The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon said on Saturday the process of troop transition in southern Lebanon continued.

"The Lebanese Armed Forces completed yesterday the process of deployment inside the territory vacated earlier by the IDF in the general areas of Cheeba, Hasbaiya, Kafer Chouba, Kafer Hamman, Rachaya, Hebbariye and Al Fradis.

"The Israeli Army withdrawal and the deployment of the Lebanese Army shall continue in the coming days in accordance with the plan and timeline agreed during a trilateral meeting of the Force Commander UNIFIL and the senior representatives of the Lebanese and Israeli Army. "

In figures updated Saturday, Lebanese Internal Security Forces reported 1,069 people were killed in Lebanon during the 34-day conflict with Israel, with another 4,055 injured. Israel has put its death toll from fighting and rocket attacks at 159.