Ya'alon: Hezbollah is using civilian homes in south Lebanon to hide rocket launchers

Hezbollah is Iran's principal weapon against Israel, defense minister tells UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Yaalon at IDF Home Front Command’s base 370 (photo credit: Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
Yaalon at IDF Home Front Command’s base 370
(photo credit: Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon met with UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon in Jerusalem on Friday, and showed him a map displaying civilian homes in southern Lebanon that Hezbollah is using to hide rocket launchers while directing thousands of projectiles at Israel.
“Hezbollah is Iran’s principal weapon against Israel for the [future] crucial day,” the defense minister said. “This is an organization that is a state within a state.
“We’re identifying Hezbollah activity near the border with Israel, despite the fact that UN Resolution 1701 forbids Hezbollah from being there and being active there. Hezbollah must not be there,” Ya’alon said, before producing the map.
The defense minister noted the growing conflict between Hezbollah and Sunni elements in Lebanon. On Thursday, an explosion tore through the Hezbollah-controlled Dahiye quarter of south Beirut, killing and wounding dozens of people.
Ya’alon expressed appreciation for the presence of UN peacekeeping forces on the Syrian border and in southern Lebanon.
“The Middle East is in the midst of a strategic earthquake, and there will be instability in the region for a long time,” he said. “The only stable thing in the Middle East is instability.”
The defense minister said the region would have to be prepared for a Syrian civil war that would likely last for several more years.