A ceasefire seems to be looking much better to Hezbollah:
Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) — Hezbollah may agree to a cease-fire even if some Israeli soldiers remain in Lebanon, a Hezbollah lawmaker said.
“The priority is to reach an unconditional cease-fire first,†said Mahmoud Komati in a telephone interview. “The subject of removing all Israeli soldiers from Lebanon could be resolved through political discussions.â€
while Iran races to re-supply it:
TEL AVIV, Israel — Iran is racing to resupply Hezbollah across the Syrian border ahead of a possible cease-fire being ironed out this week at the United Nations. Meanwhile, Israeli jets have begun a new bombardment of Beirut’s suburbs and Hezbollah is threatening to launch a missile attack on Tel Aviv.
Israeli military and intelligence officials here say Iranian technicians were aboard a flight to Damascus on Monday with the Iranian foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki.
The Israel Defense Forces also says it has not been able to seal the border between Syria and Lebanon, making it possible to ferry men, small rockets, and other materiel to Hezbollah through the back roads and smuggling routes in the Bekaa Valley.
Somehow a ceasefire on this basis doesn’t sound like it will lead to a lasting peace.
UPDATE: For those who don’t care for The Sun as a source, how about Agence France-Presse?
LONDON (AFP) – Iran will supply Hezbollah with surface-to-air missile systems in the coming months, boosting the guerrillas’ defences against Israeli aircraft, according to a report by specialist magazine Jane’s Defence Weekly, citing unnamed Western diplomatic sources.
In a meeting, held late last month, the Lebanese Shiite Muslim militia called on Tehran to “accelerate and extend the scope of weapon shipments from Iran to the Islamic Resistance, particularly advanced missiles against ground and air targets.”
Hezbollah’s representatives pressed for “an array of more advanced weaponry, including more advanced SAM (surface-to-air missile) systems,” Jane’s said Friday.
“Iranian authorities conveyed a message to the Hezbollah leadership that their forces would continue to receive a steady supply of weapons systems,”it added.
That Iran has supplied advanced missile technology to Hezbollah is undisputed: Iranian officials have acknowledged that much. Where else would they get Iranian-made weapons? That Iran would attempt to re-supply Hezbollah IMO is obvious.
This afternoon I heard a very interesting interview on NPR with a Syrian diplomat who denied in no uncertain terms that Syria had supplied missiles to Hezbollah. Whether the denial is credible or not is not particularly material. If you look at a map it’s clear that it’s not enormously easier to get Iranian missiles into Syria and then into Lebanon than it is to get them directly from Iran to Lebanon.
Just for the record and for those who haven’t been following my posts over the last several weeks: I believe that the current hostilities are a tremendous mistake and that a method over than military force aught to be used to resolve things. At best that will only be a temporary fix but a more permanent solution will require more than Israel and nobody seems to be stepping up to plate just now.
When you start using the Sun as an undisputed source you lose credibility. iran and Syria may or may not be resupplying Hezbullah.
And yes it was well known that the kind of weapons a guerrila arm uses can be brought in through back routes.
The purpose of cutting the main roads was to break Lebanon.
As evil as Hezbullah is (and I don’t use the word ironically) the impending disaster of the Lebanese people is a plausible justification for cease fire.
And so far thye have been behaving more intelligently than Israel. They honored the 48 hour truce, Israel didn’t. This will be remembered along with Israel’s violating the ceasefire in 1973 to win it’s victory.
Both sides are far from perfect with long lists of rogurey and terrorism on their record. I think Israel is morally superior, but the position taken by our right and many Israelis that theory can do no wrong and all is justified is morally indistinguishable from Osamas.
If mass hunger and disease break out among the Lebanese including those who despise Hezbulla then there will be no moral excuse.