Israeli soldiers along the border between Israel and Lebanon, on May 18, 2021. (Credit: Jalaa Marey/AFP)
BEIRUT — The Chief of Staff of the Israeli army Aviv Kochavi threatened Sunday that "both the state of Lebanon and Hezbollah will bear the repercussions if the sovereignty of the state of Israel is violated and if its interests are harmed or its citizens are harmed," according to a tweet by Arabic-speaking Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee.
In a statement, Kochavi claimed that Hezbollah has taken over large parts of Lebanon, "effectively becoming the body that determines its security policy," adding that "Hezbollah has kidnapped Lebanon from the security point of view."
Kochavi accused Lebanon of not implementing Resolution 1701, "as rockets, missiles, anti-armor launchers and control rooms are deployed in southern Lebanon, southern Beirut and the entire Bekaa Valley."
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, which currently numbers just over 10,000 peacekeepers, was established in 1978 by the Security Council to confirm the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon. After the summer 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, UNIFIL was responsible for monitoring the cessation of hostilities and the application of Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 conflict and called for the disarmament of nonstate armed groups, implying Hezbollah. The resolution's mandate is renewed each year, after approval by the Lebanese authorities and a vote by the Security Council.
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Since the beginning of the summer, against the backdrop of tensions over the maritime border negotiations, Hezbollah has intensified its activities on the border with Israel. In addition to the gradual redeployment of its fighters returning from Syria, the party has set about installing a dozen containers on the edge of the wall built by Israel, without UNIFIL being able to access them. To this day, the exact function of these containers is a mystery. Some believe that they are used for the purposes of monitoring and gathering information from the movements of the Israeli forces.
