Hizbullah agrees to truce but sets out conditions

MIDDLE EAST: Twenty-four hours ahead of the Israeli cabinet's meeting to approve a ceasefire in the four-week-old war, Hizbullah…

MIDDLE EAST: Twenty-four hours ahead of the Israeli cabinet's meeting to approve a ceasefire in the four-week-old war, Hizbullah declared itself ready to abide by a truce, but with conditions.

"Once there is an agreement to stop the so-called military operations or the aggressive operations . . . the resistance will adhere to it without hesitation," the movement's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said. But, he added: "As long as there is Israeli military movement, Israeli field aggression and Israeli soldiers occupying our land . . . it is our natural right to confront them, fight them and defend our land, our homes and ourselves."

His mention of Israeli soldiers "occupying our land" highlights what could prove a fatal flaw in the resolution adopted by the UN Security Council at the weekend. It calls for a "full cessation of hostilities" followed by Israeli withdrawal as the Lebanese army and Unifil forces deploy throughout southern Lebanon.

Hizbullah and its militia have controlled large parts of the south since Israel pulled out six years ago, but it now says it will accept deployment of the Lebanese army in the area.

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The problem is that the Lebanese army and Unifil will not deploy until hostilities have ceased. Even if the ceasefire deadline this morning is observed, there will still be a delay of at least several days before the deployment begins and Israeli forces start to leave - with a risk of new flare-ups in the meantime.

Hizbullah built its reputation resisting occupation, so it will take a great deal of self-restraint to sit quietly while 30,000 Israeli troops remain in the country.

On the other hand, it is likely to come under intense pressure within Lebanon to comply with the ceasefire if Israel does so.

Sheikh Nasrallah claimed a "natural right" to confront the Israeli forces but did not explicitly say he would exercise it.

Hizbullah has two ministers in the Lebanese government and is therefore a party to its acceptance of the UN resolution.

"We will not be an obstacle to any [ government] decision that it finds appropriate, but our ministers will express reservations about articles that we consider unjust and unfair," he said.

"We find some aspects of the resolution unfair and unjust . . . it blames the resistance, which only carried out a limited military operation." But he also saw a positive side.

Despite that, he predicted that there could be more hard fighting ahead.