Lebanese Prime Minister Sa’ad al-Hariri asked the United Nations to assist Lebanon and Israel in moving forward toward a permanent ceasefire, which would end what the Lebanese leader called “Israel’s continuous violations” of Lebanese territory. “Israel violates Resolution 1701 and we, as a government, raise these violations to the United Nations and we remind of the importance of moving towards a permanent ceasefire to stop these violations. The Lebanese army, stationed here to protect sovereignty, plays its national role to the fullest extent,” said Hariri.
Prime Minister Hariri, who is from the Sunni Muslim camp in Lebanon, which are backed by Saudi Arabia, made those comments during a visit to south Lebanon amid growing rhetoric against Israel from his political rivals, the Shi’ite Muslim Hezbollah, which are backed by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Hezbollah officials conducted a media tour over the weekend, during which they pointed to recent Israeli fortifications on the border and, declared their state of preparedness in case of a new war with the Jewish state. The media tour drew a response from Israel, which declared Hezbollah’s growing rhetoric as a desperate attempt to imply its relevance as they continue to weaken because of their involvement in the Syrian conflict on behalf of President Bashar Assad and Iran.
The last war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon ended when the United Nations Security Council passed resolution 1701, which among others, demanded full responsibility from the Lebanese army to secure its side of the border, in a zone from which any other armed forces, including Hezbollah, are banned. Even though the United Nations also maintains an international peacekeeping force on the border, Israel has complained on several occasions of Hezbollah’s ongoing violation of resolution 1701, as the Iranian-backed group seeks to maintain a militant foothold in the predominantly Shi’ite Muslim border-region.