The Lebanese government vowed today to crush any attempt on the Lebanese side to breach the ceasefire in the conflict with Israel, a day after the UN condemned an Israeli raid on Hizbullah as a truce violation.
"The army will be very tough in dealing with such an issue," Lebanese Defence Minister Elias al-Murr told a news conference.
"Any rocket fired from Lebanon will benefit Israel," he said, suggesting such an incident would provide a pretext for the Jewish state to attack Lebanon.
The minister said he was confident Hizbullah would stick to the truce and not try to rearm. He said any other faction that attacked Israel would be dealt with as traitors.
Mr Murr said the army now controlled the entire border with Syria and would crack down on arms shipments. "There is no flexibility on arms smuggling," he said.
Israeli warplanes flew reconnaissance missions over Lebanon today, a day after an Israeli commando raid deep into the country strained the UN-backed truce that ended Israel's 34-day conflict with Hizbollah.
Witnesses and Lebanese security sources said high-altitude flights covered virtually the whole country, from its war-torn south to close to the border with Syria in the north and east.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Israel's raid on a Hizbullah stronghold deep in Lebanon on Saturday had violated the truce that went into effect on August 14th.
"The secretary-general is deeply concerned about a violation by the Israeli side of the cessation of hostilities as laid out in Security Council resolution 1701," a spokesman for Mr Annan said.
Israel said the operation, in which commandos were airlifted into the area by helicopter, was defensive and designed to disrupt weapons supplies to Hizbullah from Syria and Iran.
It denied it had violated the resolution, which allows it to act in self-defence, and accused Hizbullah of doing so by smuggling weapons.
One Israeli soldier was killed and two wounded when the commandos clashed with Hizbullah guerrillas near the village of Bodai, 16 miles from the Syrian border. Hizbullah denied it had suffered any casualties after security sources in Lebanon said three guerrillas were killed.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora described the operation as "a naked violation of the cessation of hostilities declared by the Security Council".
Today he inspected damage in Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hizbullah stronghold ravaged by Israeli air strikes.
"This is a crime against humanity committed by Israel here and in other areas of Lebanon," he said on a visit to Haret Hreik.
The UN statement said Mr Annan spoke to Mr Siniora, adding that he had called on all parties "to respect strictly the arms embargo, exercise maximum restraint [and] avoid provocative actions".
Mr Annan also discussed the raid with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who "pointed out the importance of supervision of the Syrian-Lebanese border", an Israeli official said.