Lebanon's position in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict

2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict

The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War #Other uses|Tammūz]]) and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War , was a 34-day military conflict in Lebanon, northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. The principal parties were Hezbollah...

from the start was to disavow the Hezbollah shelling and raid on 12 July, while calling for an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Lebanese territory.

On 13 July, after an emergency meeting of the Lebanese government, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora

Fouad Siniora

Fuad Siniora is a Lebanese politician, a former Prime Minister of Lebanon, a position he held from 19 July 2005 to May 25, 2008 the date of the election of the new President of Lebanon; he was renominated to the post on 28 May 2008 and held the post as Acting President between those...

 stated that the government had not been aware of Hezbollah's raid before it happened "and does not take responsibility for, nor endorses what happened on the international border" . On the same day, Lebanon recalled its Ambassador to USA, after he had made comments on television saying that Israel should consider a prisoner exchange with Hezbollah.

On 13 July, a prominent Lebanese Druze

Druze

The Druze are an esoteric, monotheistic religious community, found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, which emerged during the 11th century from Ismailism. The Druze have an eclectic set of beliefs that incorporate several elements from Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism...

 member of parliament

Parliament of Lebanon

The Parliament of Lebanon is the national parliament of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year terms in multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's diverse Christian and Muslim denominations. Lebanon has universal adult suffrage...

, Walid Jumblatt

Walid Jumblatt

Walid Jumblatt is a Lebanese politician and the current leader of the Progressive Socialist Party . He is the most prominent leader of Lebanon's Druze community.-Family:...

, criticized Hezbollah in an interview with the French daily Le Figaro

Le Figaro

Le Figaro is a French daily newspaper founded in 1826 and published in Paris. It is one of three French newspapers of record, with Le Monde and Libération, and is the oldest newspaper in France. It is also the second-largest national newspaper in France after Le Parisien and before Le Monde, but...

: "Hezbollah played a very dangerous game by kidnapping these two soldiers. ... Israel has withdrawn from Lebanon. These kidnappings took place outside our country's borders. Hezbollah is raising the stakes, with the support of Iran and Syria, which in the past year has become a satellite state of Tehran. … Hezbollah will have to explain itself to the Lebanese. ... [We need to decide] who makes the decisions regarding war and peace in this country."

On 14 July, following a phone call between Siniora and President Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

, the Prime Minister’s office issued the statement that “Prime Minister Siniora called on President Bush to exert all his efforts on Israel to stop its aggression on Lebanon, reach a comprehensive ceasefire and lift its blockade.” The next day, in a televised message to the Lebanese people, and afterwards in an interview with CNN, Siniora said “We call for an immediate ceasefire backed by the United Nations.”

On 16 July, the Lebanese special envoy to the UN, Nouhad Mahmoud, claimed that the United States was obstructing the Security Council's attempt to broker a ceasefire , as the U.S. was the sole member of the 15-nation UN body to oppose any council action . The US position was further made clear by the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...

, who on the same day, speaking at the G8

G8

The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for the governments of seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1997, the group added Russia, thus becoming the G8...

 meeting in St. Petersburg, said that the only way to deal with the problem is “to deal with the extremists, isolate the extremists, and put in place moderate democratic states”.

On 17 July, Lebanese president, Émile Lahoud

Émile Lahoud

General Émile Jamil Lahoud is a former President of Lebanon. Lahoud is a Maronite-Catholic, as is required for the Lebanese presidency. Under Lebanon's unwritten constitutional agreement, the National Pact, the presidency is earmarked for Maronite_Catholic, the parliament speaker's post for a Shia...

, said he would never betray Hezbollah and its leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.

On 21 July, Lebanese defense minister Elias Murr said that the Lebanese army would fight any ground invasion by Israel.

On 25 July, the Center for Democracy in Lebanon, a Lebanese group which was involved in the Cedar Revolution

Cedar Revolution

The Cedar Revolution or Independence Intifada was a chain of demonstrations in Lebanon triggered by the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14, 2005.The primary goals of the original activists were the...

 movement, called for an immediate ceasefire and proposed a Roadmap to Normalization.

At the 26 July Rome Conference, Prime Minister Siniora put forward a seven-point peace plan that has become known as the Siniora Plan

Siniora Plan

The Siniora Plan was the unofficial name of the 7-point truce plan for the 2006 Lebanon War that was presented by Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Siniora at the 15-nation conference in Rome on 27 July 2006....

. It consisted of a mutual release of prisoners; Israeli troops withdrawing to the demarcated frontier and allowing displaced civilians to return home; Israel's withdrawal from the occupied Shebaa Farms and placing the territory under temporary UN control; extending Lebanese government authority throughout all of southern Lebanon; expanding the existing UN force in South Lebanon, including its authority to intervene; reinvigorating the 1949 Armistice Agreement; and rebuilding the south . The plan is backed by Hezbollah , the EU , Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

  and most members of the Arab League

Arab League

The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...

, such as Jordan

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

.

On 7 August, the Siniora Plan was further detailed to include 15,000 Lebanese Army troops which would fill the void in southern Lebanon after an Israeli withdrawal before the international force would be in place. This way, the Lebanese government hoped to dispel the claim that the Israeli forces had to remain in Lebanon until the international force had arrived . The number of soldiers corresponded with what Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert

Ehud Olmert

Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, as a Cabinet Minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006, and as Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003....

has said that the size of the international force needs to be .

On 22 August, the Center for Democracy in Lebanon called upon the Lebanese people and the Siniora Government to consider a rebuilding plan for a “New Beirut”. The plan calls for a "garden of angels" to commemorate the children, victims of the 2006 Israeli aggression on Lebanon; the garden will be located where the “security square” used to be in the southern suburb and will house about 400 life-size statues for children (one for each fallen child); it will be flanked by a museum of innocence commemorating the war, and a children playground. For details see ...for the children.

External links

• The Lebanese government's Higher Relief Council's website - linked 9 August 2006
• ...for the children - A monument of peace; an oasis of love; a garden of angels! - The Center for Democracy in Lebanon
• www.lebanon-israel.info An ongoing discussion on the Lebanon-Israel conflict