Mick Hartley

Daniela Grudsky Ekstein, acting Israeli ambassador to the UK, in the Times today – We have to break Hezbollah to save Lebanon:

Over the past week, Hezbollah has fired more than 200 rockets, missiles, drones and explosive devices at civilian communities in northern Israel, causing fatalities and disrupting daily life. No responsible government can accept an armed organisation committed to its destruction maintaining the capacity to launch large-scale attacks against its citizens.

Hezbollah has embedded itself in the civilian population of southern Lebanon. It has established military infrastructure, weapons storage facilities and ambush sites, blurring the distinction between military and civilian spaces and endangering local people. Israel has acted with restraint while negotiating with Lebanon but the continued attacks have compelled it to deepen its operational activity in the south of the country.

The challenge is further complicated by Hezbollah’s subordination to Iran. The current escalation began on March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel at the behest of Tehran. With financial support, weapons transfers, training and operational co-ordination, Iran has made Lebanon a stage for broader regional confrontations and limited its ability to pursue an independent national path.

Hezbollah is Lebanon’s cuckoo in the nest – a foreign imposition, dedicated by its Iranian masters to the destruction of Israel and the killing of Jews. Get rid of Hezbollah and the problem is sorted – which is what the majority of Lebanese want. The government, unfortunately, is simpy too weak.

Numerous diplomatic initiatives and international resolutions have affirmed the principle that groups in Lebanon operating outside state control should be disarmed. Yet Unifil, the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon since 2006, has failed to fulfil its central mission of preventing Hezbollah’s military build-up. Neither the Lebanese government nor the UN have the capacity or capability to halt the growth of Hezbollah.

What on earth is the point of Unifil? Some 8,000 UN troops cited in Southern Lebanon to keep the peace, and yet they make no effort to tackle Hezbollah. All they do, it seems, is scuttle around dodging rockets while happily pocketing their UN salaries.

Israel’s objective is not to weaken Lebanon, nor do we seek to occupy, govern or interfere in its domestic affairs. Israel has a clear interest in the emergence of a strong, stable and sovereign Lebanese state capable of exercising effective authority throughout its territory. And we need to ensure our northern border is no longer dominated by an armed group that wants to destroy Israel.

The international community faces a choice. Supporting Israel’s effort does not mean endorsing endless conflict. It means recognising that dismantling Hezbollah’s military infrastructure is the precondition for everything that must follow. The world should support a genuine transfer of security authority to the Lebanese armed forces and insist that Iranian interference in Lebanon’s affairs must end. Only by breaking the cycle of Iranian-directed militarism can Lebanon reclaim its future and Israel achieve the security its citizens deserve.

Meanwhile the talks go on, but all that matters – the key to the whole business – is getting rid of Hezbollah.