Post by Paddy by Grace on Sept 2, 2008 0:07:46 GMT -7
www.aina.org/news/20080820143638.htm
Israel Warns Lebanon to Keep Distance From Hezbollah
Posted GMT 8-20-2008 19:36:38
JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israel has warned the Lebanese government against giving greater legitimacy to the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, saying it would make the entire country a target in any future war.
"The moment the Lebanese government confers legitimacy on Hezbollah, it must understand that the entire Lebanese state will be a target in the same way that all of Israel is a target for Hezbollah," Environment Minister Gideon Ezra told public radio on Wednesday.
"During the Second Lebanese War we considered the possibility of attacking Lebanon's infrastructure but we never resorted to this option, because we thought at the time that not all the Lebanese were responsible for the Hezbollah attacks," added Ezra, who is close to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Israeli bombing during the 2006 conflict with Hezbollah was largely confined to Beirut and the south but the military did hit civilian infrastructure, including the main international airport, roads, bridges and a power station.
Israel has always said that such instances were exceptions to an attack that was solely focused on Hezbollah and was initially aimed only at recovering two Israeli soldiers seized in a deadly cross-border raid.
"At that time we had Hezbollah in our sights and not the Lebanese state. But the Hezbollah (fighters) do not live on the moon, and some infrastructure was hit," an Israeli official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The military failed to secure the soldiers' return in the 34-day war and also failed to destroy Hezbollah's ability to rain rockets on northern Israel. The bodies of the two men were finally handed over by Hezbollah in a prisoner exchange last month.
Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev said Israel does not consider the entire state of Lebanon to be an enemy but that "the moment Hezbollah takes control of the Lebanese government we will have to address the consequences."
Last month, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora formed a national unity government that gives the Hezbollah-led opposition 11 ministries and the power of veto over cabinet decisions.
In a policy statement earlier this month, the new government affirmed "the right of Lebanon, its people, its army and its resistance to liberate its land," a reference to some disputed border districts still held by Israel.
Olmert himself made similar remarks to Ezra's during a visit to Israel's homefront defence headquarters on Tuesday.
"During the war in Lebanon we had a massive capacity that we refrained from using because we were fighting a terrorist organisation and not a state, but if Lebanon becomes a Hezbollah state we will not be so restrained," he said.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hezbollah of violating UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war, by importing increasingly advanced weapons from Syria.
It has meanwhile carried out routine overflights of southern Lebanon, which is also in violation of the resolution.
Israel Warns Lebanon to Keep Distance From Hezbollah
Posted GMT 8-20-2008 19:36:38
JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israel has warned the Lebanese government against giving greater legitimacy to the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, saying it would make the entire country a target in any future war.
"The moment the Lebanese government confers legitimacy on Hezbollah, it must understand that the entire Lebanese state will be a target in the same way that all of Israel is a target for Hezbollah," Environment Minister Gideon Ezra told public radio on Wednesday.
"During the Second Lebanese War we considered the possibility of attacking Lebanon's infrastructure but we never resorted to this option, because we thought at the time that not all the Lebanese were responsible for the Hezbollah attacks," added Ezra, who is close to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Israeli bombing during the 2006 conflict with Hezbollah was largely confined to Beirut and the south but the military did hit civilian infrastructure, including the main international airport, roads, bridges and a power station.
Israel has always said that such instances were exceptions to an attack that was solely focused on Hezbollah and was initially aimed only at recovering two Israeli soldiers seized in a deadly cross-border raid.
"At that time we had Hezbollah in our sights and not the Lebanese state. But the Hezbollah (fighters) do not live on the moon, and some infrastructure was hit," an Israeli official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The military failed to secure the soldiers' return in the 34-day war and also failed to destroy Hezbollah's ability to rain rockets on northern Israel. The bodies of the two men were finally handed over by Hezbollah in a prisoner exchange last month.
Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev said Israel does not consider the entire state of Lebanon to be an enemy but that "the moment Hezbollah takes control of the Lebanese government we will have to address the consequences."
Last month, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora formed a national unity government that gives the Hezbollah-led opposition 11 ministries and the power of veto over cabinet decisions.
In a policy statement earlier this month, the new government affirmed "the right of Lebanon, its people, its army and its resistance to liberate its land," a reference to some disputed border districts still held by Israel.
Olmert himself made similar remarks to Ezra's during a visit to Israel's homefront defence headquarters on Tuesday.
"During the war in Lebanon we had a massive capacity that we refrained from using because we were fighting a terrorist organisation and not a state, but if Lebanon becomes a Hezbollah state we will not be so restrained," he said.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hezbollah of violating UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war, by importing increasingly advanced weapons from Syria.
It has meanwhile carried out routine overflights of southern Lebanon, which is also in violation of the resolution.