MIDDLE EAST: An Israeli commando raid deep inside Lebanon over the weekend briefly shook a week-old ceasefire, but by yesterday it was clear the truce was still intact and the Lebanese defence minister issued a harsh warning to anyone in Lebanon who violated it.
Stating he was certain Hizbullah would not break the truce, Lebanese defence minister Elia Murr said that "any rocket that is fired from the Lebanese territory will be considered collaboration with Israel to provide a pretext [for Israel] to strike".
Mr Murr's comments appeared to reflect fears that Palestinian militants in Lebanon, some of them backed by Syria, might try to fire rockets into Israel - a move that could draw retaliatory fire from Israel and maybe reignite the fighting.
Just a day before, on Saturday, the defence minister had threatened to halt the deployment of the Lebanese army in south Lebanon after it emerged that overnight on Friday helicopters had put down Israeli commandos near the Hizbullah stronghold of Baalbek, in the Bekaa Valley, some 28km from the Lebanon-Syria border.
Apparently dressed in Lebanese army uniforms and driving vehicles that were also transported by the helicopters, the commandos encountered a group of Hizbullah guerillas toward the end of the operation.
In the ensuing firefight, an Israeli officer was killed and two injured. Lebanese security sources said three Hizbullah guerillas were killed in the raid, although the Shia group insisted it had not suffered any casualties.
Israel has said that the raid was aimed at preventing a shipment of Iranian arms reaching Hizbullah via Syria and that the operation was successful. But the military's refusal to provide details of the raid has triggered speculation that it was in some way connected to the two Israeli soldiers being held captive by Hizbullah and who were abducted by the group during an attack on an Israeli border patrol on July 12th.
There was also speculation that Israel might have been trying to kidnap a senior Hizbullah political figure or cleric, and there were conflicting reports on whether the commandos had in fact snatched anyone during the raid.
UN chief Kofi Annan accused Israel of violating the ceasefire. "The secretary general is deeply concerned about a violation by the Israeli side of the cessation of hostilities," said a statement from Mr Annan. "All such violations of Security Council Resolution 1701 endanger the fragile calm that was reached after much negotiation."
An Israeli official said that in a conversation with Mr Annan, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert had "pointed out the importance of supervision of the Syrian-Lebanese border".
Israeli officials accused Hizbullah of violating the truce by smuggling in weapons - the UN resolution calls for an arms embargo on the group - and said the commando raid was an act of self-defence. "The IDF operation in Lebanon does not violate the ceasefire agreement," read a statement released by Israeli defence minister Amir Peretz. "This was a vital operation intended to prevent the rearmament of Hizbullah."
Mr Olmert, meanwhile, announced yesterday that he would set up a panel to investigate the management of the fighting in Lebanon by both the government and the military, as public criticism mounted over the handling of the conflict. With the 33 days of fighting not having produced a clear outcome, Israelis have become increasingly critical of what they view as mismanagement by the political and military leadership.
Mr Peretz has already appointed his own panel to probe the army's conduct during the war. But it is unclear whether either panel will have the authority to recommend the dismissal of top-ranking officers or ministers.
Some public figures have been calling for a full state commission of inquiry, such as the one that followed the 1973 Mideast War, when Israel was initially caught off guard by Egyptian forces before launching a counter-offensive.