 Anchor: In the Middle East---the guns finally appear to have fallen silent in the war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas and people fleeing homes begin to return. An UN-brokered ceasefire has brought to an official end to the month-long conflict, which has left some 1,000 Lebanese and around 150 Israelis dead.
However, with Israel refusing to pull all of its troops out of Lebanon until an international force moves in, and the Hezbollah leader threatening to attack as long as Israeli soldiers remain in the country, many are questioning how long a cease-fire can last. Our Middle-East correspondent He Jinzhe has more.
Reporter: Israel is still imposing an air and naval blockade on Lebanon and is maintaining thousands of troops on the Lebanese territory. Israeli aircraft have dropped leaflets on central Beirut, warning that it will retaliate for any attack launched from Lebanon.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mark Regev says that Israel is happy with the ceasefire resolution and will do everything it can to make the ceasefire a success.
"The UN Security Council resolution 1701 is a good resolution and we will fulfill all our commitments under that resolution, and I can only hope that the Lebanese side will do the same."
But for the part of Hezbollah, the group’s leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah says his guerrillas have won a war against Israel.
"Without any exaggeration we have won a strategic and historic victory for Lebanon, all of Lebanon, for the resistance, and to all the nation."
However, the implementation of the hard-won cease-fire agreement has been cast into doubt after the Lebanese Cabinet indefinitely postpones a crucial meeting dealing with plans to send 15-thousand soldiers into Hezbollah's stronghold in southern Lebanon.
Sources say the Cabinet is sharply divided over demands for Hezbollah to surrender its weapons.
Analysts say the deployment of the Lebanese army along Israel's border with an equal number of UN forces is a cornerstone of the UN ceasefire resolution.
The forces are to create a so- called Hezbollah-free zone in southern Lebanon. They say that any delay of the deployment of the forces may raise the possibility of further conflicts between Israel and Hezbollah guerillas.
He Jinzhe CRI News in the Middle East.
|
Director: Liu Chi