The Lebanese government has not taken a single step against Hezbollah since the ceasefire in Lebanon went into effect some two weeks ago, two Israeli officials told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
“There have been no arrests, no attempts to prevent attacks on our soldiers, and no effort to stop the rocket fire,” one of the officials told the Post.
In recent weeks, Israel and Lebanon have been locked in negotiations that, for the first time, included a face-to-face meeting between Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yehiel Leiter, and Lebanon’s ambassador to the United States, Nada Hamadeh Mouwad.
The most recent meeting last week was partially held in the presence of US President Donald Trump. Israel and the United States are demanding that Lebanon begin taking action against the terrorist organization in parallel with the ceasefire, which was recently extended by three weeks.
Netanyahu: Israel has full freedom of action in Lebanon
Speaking to IDF generals on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that Israel was given “full freedom of action to foil immediate and emerging threats,” adding that the IDF has struck Hezbollah targets beyond the Litani River.
Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, said today to the UN envoy to Lebanon that Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is gambling with Lebanon’s future. “There will be no reality in which a ceasefire exists in Lebanon while our forces and the communities of the Galilee continue to come under fire. If the Lebanese government continues to shelter under the shadow of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, fire will break out and burn the cedars of Lebanon.”
He added that the Lebanese government must ensure that Hezbollah is disarmed first south of the Litani River up to the Blue Line, and afterward throughout all of Lebanon.
Today, a meeting was held in Beirut between Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam “to pave the way for decisive decisions regarding the course of negotiations with the United States.”
Lebanon’s president said on Monday, “How long will the people of southern Lebanon continue to pay the price for wars fought by others on our land? If this were a war for Lebanon, we would support it – but this is a war serving the interests of others, and I completely oppose it.”
Aoun said they had informed the American side that a ceasefire is the necessary first step before any further negotiations and addressed Hezbollah directly: “Some criticize us for turning to negotiations without broad national support. I ask: when you chose war, did you first obtain broad consent?”
He added, “What we are doing is not betrayal – those who betray are the ones who drag their country into war for external interests. My goal is to end the war with Israel.”
Hezbollah “categorically rejects direct negotiations” with Israel, the terror organization’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem said on Monday.
“It is the responsibility of the Lebanese government to stop direct negotiations with the Israeli enemy and return to indirect negotiations,” Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen cited him as saying.
Direct negotiations and their outcomes “are as if they do not exist as far as we are concerned, and they do not concern us, neither closely nor distantly,” he said.
Israel has “reached a dead end,” and Hezbollah’s “resistance is ongoing, strong, and cannot be defeated,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese government cannot continue to govern while “it squanders Lebanon’s rights and cedes land,” the terror leader said.
He also accused the government of having decided to work “side by side with the Israeli enemy against its own people.”
Israel will “not remain on a single inch of our occupied land, and our people will return to their lands up to the last inch of our borders,” he continued.
The terror group’s capabilities are not measured in months and years, and are built on the “triad of faith, will, and capability,” he said.
The Lebanese government must “annul their March 2 decision that criminalizes Hezbollah and its people, in order to enable the pursuit of an internal dialogue that places Lebanon’s interest above all considerations,” he added.
“We will not return to the pre-March 2 era, and we will respond to Israeli aggression and confront it,” he stated.
“No matter how much Israel threatens, we will not retreat, nor bow, nor be defeated,” he insisted.
Qassem also discussed cooperating with other Shi’ite movements within Lebanon, including the Amal Movement.
“Just as we resisted together, we will rebuild together,” he said.
Hezbollah will stand with all the “honorable parties” as if they were “one hand,” he added.
“We will be one hand with Amal, the national forces, and figures from various components and sects, and we will not squander the blood of the martyrs,” he concluded.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.
Source:
www.jpost.com
