Hezbollah on Wednesday held a memorial service in the township of Majdal Silm in south Lebanon.
During the service, Shaykh Nabil Qawuq, Hezbollah’s official in charge of the southern area, said: ‘The state of frustration and despair dominating the US Administration and Israeli leaders, as a result of the resounding defeat that Israel has suffered, is becoming evident.
‘They are now begging the UN Security Council to pass a new resolution in hopes of making up for the loss of the military war, which is yet another proof of the might of the resistance.’
Shayh Qawuq stressed that ‘the weapon of the resistance is a source of strength and power for the homeland, which we will not give up whatever the intimidation, threats, and international and regional collusion’.
He added: ‘Despite the Israeli military provocations and breaches, the resistance vows to its people that it will not allow the enemy to achieve any political or security gains, after the enemy has suffered a matchless failure in the confrontation arena.’
Shaykh Qawuq said: ‘The blockade being imposed on Lebanon reveals the magnitude of the international connivance and deception.
‘What is happening is intended to humiliate the state, not to enable it to extend its sovereignty over its territory.’
Concluding his statement, Shaykh Qawuq said: ‘This steadfast people deserve all our loyalty, and so the resistance was the first to start removing the effects of the aggression.
‘The resistance will quickly offer any service to alleviate our kinfolk’s suffering.
‘We have begun implementing a plan to return the displaced people so that no one will be away from his town.
‘We have so far paid allowances for more than 60 per cent of the people whose houses were destroyed to secure new homes.
‘We are working to pay the rest as soon as possible.
‘We will not wait for any favour from anyone or beg anyone so as not to pay a political price in return for any service.’
Meanwhile reports from the Lebanese National News Agency and Hezbollah’s Al- Manar Tv revealed the continuing Israeli provocations.
The Lebanese National News Agency reported Wednesday: ‘The Israeli army fired dozens of artillery shells from its position on Mount Hermon, which overlooks Shabaa town, at dawn today.
‘The shelling targeted the peripheries of the occupied farms. Dozens of flares were fired over the area.
‘Ali Dawud, a National News Agency correspondent in Al-Nabatiyah, has reported that the Israeli enemy fully closed the road between Markaba and Hula by a bulldozer at 1430 (1130 gmt) today.
‘The closure resulted in isolating Bint Jubayl District from Marj Uyun District. The enemy forces are still stationed in (Mahallat al-Buqa) outside Markaba.’
At 0830 gmt, Al-Manar carried its newscast and highlighted the Israeli violations of UN Resolution 1701, saying that Israeli warplanes keep flying over Lebanese areas.
Furthermore, the channel highlighted the growing calls by reservists from the Israeli Army, who assembled before the Knesset calling for the resignation of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Minister of Defence Amir Peretz, and Chief of the General Staff Dan Halutz for their ‘failure’ in managing the war against Hezbollah.
Al-Manar showed Israeli soldiers speaking to Israeli channels about their ‘horrible experiences’ with Hezbollah.
Separately, The Guidance Directorate of the Lebanese Army Command issued a statement Wednesday saying that three military personnel, including a captain, were martyred while a group from the army’s engineering unit was removing unexploded mines and bombs, which were left in Tibnin village after the recent Israeli attacks.
The martyrs are Major Samir Mir’ib, born in 1972 in Al-Haddadin street, Tripoli; Staff Sergeant Sarkis al-Duraybi, born in 1980 in Hadshit, Bsharri; Corporal Inyas al-Ali, born in 1981 in Tikrit, Akkar.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Minister of Communications Marwan Hamadah has commented on statements made by John Bolton, the US representative in the UN Security Council, in which he spoke about the US seeking to pass a Security Council resolution to disarm Hezbollah.
The Lebanese minister told Egypt’s ‘Voice of the Arabs’ channel: ‘We are concerned in the first place away from any new manoeuvres with the implementation of Resolution 1701; that is, Israel withdraws completely and the international troops set forth in the resolution, i.e. the UNIFIL (UN Interim Forces in Lebanon), are deployed along with the Lebanese army.
‘I see that passing any new resolution means a delay in the whole process and the withdrawal. And this is the most serious thing in this issue.
‘As for the Hezbollah weapons, this issue, as we agreed, is a Lebanese issue that we will resolve with each other.’
Commenting on US statements about UNIFIL monitoring of the Syrian-Lebanese border or the Lebanese coasts, Hamadah added: ‘I think monitoring any border is a state’s sovereign mission. In view of this, Lebanon has to monitor its borders.
‘This is Lebanon’s business in the first place. According to the international resolution that we approved, when Lebanon seeks another international force, it should ask it to do this. This is not an automatic procedure.’
Further commenting on UN Resolution 1701, the Lebanese minister said: ‘The resolution has several interpretations. We hope that it is the interpretation concerned with the attacked side, which is Lebanon in this process.
‘The tendencies of the international community to stress Lebanese sovereignty and impose this sovereignty on its territories, on which we do not disagree with all countries, should be taken into consideration.’
Hamadah said Lebanon had raised the issue of Israeli violations of the truce with ‘the two international envoys, who came as representatives of the UN secretary-general, and they conveyed this to Tel Aviv.’
He added: ‘We also drew the attention of all accredited ambassadors in Beirut and all Arab or international political figures that visited Beirut.
‘I see the UN secretary-general’s visit late this week to the region, including not only Beirut, but also Tel Aviv, Damascus, Tehran, Cairo and maybe Riyadh.
‘I think it will be a decisive visit that will decide the fate of Resolution 1701: Either it will be implemented or it will go through new labyrinths to search for a complementary resolution in the UN.’
He warned: ‘This will take a long time and may leave the situation fragile in the Middle East to the utmost degree.’
Asked about ‘backtracking by the international force or fears of it’, Hamadah replied: ‘As you raised the issue of violations, abductions and other operations, these troops do not want to be caught in the cross-fire.
‘I see the matters will be settled by the end of this week, on one hand through the UN secretary-general’s visit and the European meeting that will set the quotas of each country’s participation on the other.
‘They will discuss the additional conditions they will put forward on the warring parties in the Middle East for participation.’
