An internal Lebanese army statement, circulated among forces in the past week, has called for troops to stand "alongside your resistance and your people who astonished the world with its steadfastness and destroyed the prestige of the so-called invincible army after it was defeated".
The circular has alarmed ministers in the Lebanese cabinet who had been calling for the army to disarm Hizbullah. It will fuel the concerns of Israel, the US and the UN Security Council that the Lebanese army is incapable of securing the south of the country, adding increased urgency to the calls for a multinational force to be deployed swiftly.
Sources close to the army command said there has been a tacit agreement between Hizbullah and the army that those fighters who hail from the south will return to their villages and all arms will be put out of sight. Publicly displayed weapons will be seized but any further attempt to disarm the group has been ruled out for the time being.
Retired general Nizar Abdel-Kader, a former deputy chief of staff for army personnel who is in close communication with the army command, said: "The army knows there is a gun in every household, they are not going to go out and look for them . . . What we are concerned about is the launchers. There is an agreement with Hizbullah that any weapons that are found will be handed over." A mutual respect and co-operation exists between the army and Hizbullah, Gen Kader said. "They are two very separate entities but they co-operate on security issues," he said, adding that many of the army's troops were from southern Lebanon.
One defence analyst who asked not to be named said that, in the south, the army often acted as a subordinate to Hizbullah's military apparatus. "All intelligence gathered by the army is put at the disposal of Hizbullah but Hizbullah does not offer the same transparency to the army," he said. "In a sense, military intelligence in the south is operating on Hizbullah's behalf." Another retired general, Amin Hoteit, said: "The army sees Hizbullah as a group that is defending the country and so assists them as best it can." - (Guardian service)
Israeli warplanes flew over Lebanon's Bekaa valley and the north of the country yesterday but did not launch an attack, a security source and a Reuters reporter in the area said. The reporter said military jets, helicopters and drones had circled over the area and had come under anti-aircraft fire but had not been hit, and had not opened fire themselves. The Irsaeli army refused to comment on the reports.