MIDDLE EAST: Israeli minister Yossi Peled says confrontation with Lebanon's Hezbollah is inevitable

Record ID: 397239

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: Israeli minister Yossi Peled says confrontation with Lebanon's Hezbollah is inevitable
  • Date: 25th January 2010
  • Summary: ISRAEL-LEBANON BORDER, ISRAEL (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ISRAEL-LEBANON BORDER AREA, SIGN WARNING FROM LAND MINES PAN: LEBANON AS SEEN FROM ISRAELI SIDE OF BORDER TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (JANUARY 24, 2010) (REUTERS) WIDE OF ISRAELI ARMY'S NORTHERN COMMAND COMMANDER, GENERAL GADI EIZENKOT, STANDING ON PODIUM TO ADDRESS SECURITY CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) ISRAELI ARM
  • Embargoed: 9th February 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA8MLGWR4SNIBMCX88TFVZUFPTC
  • Story Text: Israeli minister says another confrontation in the northern Israeli border is only a matter of time, as current northern command commander and deputy foreign minister try to play down reports of tension. UN special co-ordinator in Lebanon on visit to region.
    Cabinet minister Yossi Peled, a former army general with past experience of the conflict on the northern border, said another confrontation with Hezbollah was almost inevitable but he could not say when it might happen.
    "My estimation, understanding and knowledge it is almost clear to me that it is a matter of time before there is a military clash in the north," Peled said during a lecture in southern Israel on Saturday (January 23). "It does not necessary have to be between us and Hezbollah, other elements may be involved in this," Peled added.
    Hours after Peled's comments, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to calm regional nerves over fears of an imminent conflict by saying Israel sought peace with its neighbours.
    In an unusual move, Netanyahu's office issued a statement quoting him saying that the Jewish state was not planning any imminent attack on Lebanon from where Hezbollah launched some 4,000 rockets at it during a 2006 war.
    An official at Netanyahu's office said the prime minister's statement came in response to fears expressed recently in Lebanon that Israel might launch an attack on Hezbollah.
    On Sunday (January 24) the Israeli army's Northern Command Commander, General Gadi Eizenkot, told reporters that despite the fact that recent reports were "virtual", Israel was non the less ready for war.
    "On a practical level, I can say that there is a continuous readiness, that has improved since the Second Lebanon War. The fact that most of Israeli corps are training in the past three years in the north, and the increased number of drills, in the brigade, division and command level, and what our enemies see, is on our behalf the improvement of readiness and the learning of a scorching lesson from the fighting three and a half years ago. This high alertness comes to ensure that the quiet that has been prevailing in the north since the Second Lebanon War will remain for many more years," Eizenkot said in a conference in Tel Aviv.
    Also on Sunday, Israeli deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon met with the UN special co-ordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams in Jerusalem to discuss the future status of the border Ghajar village.
    "As you say I come in the context of security council resolution 1701, we are keen to see more progress in all aspects of the implementation of that resolution. I have just come from a very good meeting with Mr. Yossi Gal, the director general of the ministry of foreign affairs, where much of our discussions were about the northern part of the village of Ghajar, which is currently occupied by the IDF (referring to the Israeli Defence Force), and we hope we can find a solution for the withdrawal of the IDF." Said The UN special co-ordinator for Lebanon.
    Ghajar, which has a population of about 2,000, straddles the border between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights, and was annexed by Israel in 1981 in a move that has not won international recognition.
    Six months ago, the U.N. special co-ordinator for Lebanon said he hoped for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Lebanese part of the divided border village within the next few months.
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