Israeli ministry spokesman claims victory in Lebanon conflict
14/08/2006 14:23 TEL AVIV, August 14 (RIA Novosti) - The Lebanese military campaign has ended in victory for Israel by shifting the situation on the northern border in its favor, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry said Monday.
The conflict between Hizbollah and Israel has claimed the lives of almost 1,000 people and forced about a quarter of Lebanon's population to flee their homes since air strikes and missile attacks started a month ago after the abduction of two Israeli soldiers.
"The status quo has changed absolutely in our favor," Eddy Shapira said. "The political situation today is much better than it was prior to July 12."
With a ceasefire now in effect, Shapira said the military operation had eliminated the "state within a state" that the Hizbollah radical group had created in the south of Lebanon, hostile to Israel, seriously weakening the movement.
He said diplomatic efforts, capped with the adoption of UN Resolution 1701, created prerequisites for consolidating the results that had been achieved.
The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Friday that calls for an end to the fighting between Israel and Hizbollah and demands the withdrawal of Israel troops from south Lebanon.
"We are satisfied with the resolution insofar as it ensures control over south Lebanon by a force replacing Hizbollah," he said. "Moreover, the resolution speaks about an embargo on arms supplies to Hizbollah and calls on the entire international community to observe it. The main question now is whether the resolution will be implemented."
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
