Hezbollah won’t cause chaos again
Aug 20, 2006
Lebanese government forces and UN peacekeepers have been deploying in Southern Lebanon after a month-long bombardment by Israel. <b>Charles Etukuri</b> interviewed Israeli deputy ambassador to East Africa, Shakar Azani, about the conflict
QUESTION: You have just withdrawn from Lebanon following intense fighting. How did the current crisis start?
ANSWER: In May 2000 Israel retreated from Southern Lebanon complying with the UN resolutions 425 and implementing the demands of the International Community with the hope of establishing peace in the Middle East. Five Months afterwards, Israel was no longer in Lebanon, Hezbollah launches an attack against an Israel patrol kills and kidnaps three Israel soldier. Israel doesn’t not retaliate, negotiates with Hezbollah under the Sharon Government and three years later the bodies of the soldiers are returned to Israel in exchange of over 450 Lebanese prisoners. During the six years, Hezbollah has been bombarding occasionally the border between Israel and Lebanon, killing Israel citizens and soldiers. During the six years, Hezbollah has been arming itself through its patrons, Syria and mainly Iran. On July 12, Hezbollah entered 200 metres into Israel, ambushed a patrol of reservists, killed and kidnapped two more into Lebanon.
Was the Israel reaction justifiable?
Some say we over-reached but what is proportionality when thousands of missiles are aimed at Israel villages and towns? The threat of terrorist actions exist everyday. The kind of threat Israel citizens are facing is immense. Hezbollah has over 13,000 rockets and missiles. It is the only terrorist organisation in the world with surface to sea missiles.
Aren’t you surprised by the Hezbollah’s persistent ability to fire large numbers of rockets into Israel?
Not at all. It is enough for one terrorist to run into an apartment in Southern Lebanon and fire a missile and then they will say Hezbollah is able to withstand Israel attacks. We know we can’t eradicate Hezbollah as an organisation but we will harm its missiles, weapons, its infrastructure, surveillance, equipment and its legitimacy among the Lebanese public.
We did strike the Hezbollah’s southern quarters in Beirut which is their headquarters and houses communication systems, command and control centres. They know what they are doing when leadership is running and hiding from one bunker to another.
What can the Lebanese government do about Hezbollah?
We expect the Lebanese government to deploy its forces in Southern Lebanon; we expect them to assume responsibility over what is Hezbollah land.
Why were there no negotiations or prisoner exchange this time round?
They kidnapped once and we negotiated once and they thought that they could kidnap again and we would negotiate again. We have decided to put a halt to that. Hezbollah is going away and will not come back again. Out of destruction comes creation and a new order will arise in which Hezbollah will no longer be able to drag the entire region into war.
Couldn’t we have seen a better way out of this crisis?
If Hezbollah had surrendered the soldiers immediately after capturing them and stopped these provocations there would be no need for war. We did not want to go into Lebanon; we did no want to bombard Beirut. If there was another option where they would have retreated giving us the soldiers, declaring no more provocations there would be no war.
You killed hundreds of civilians in the pretext of hunting down Hezbollah thus attracting the wrath of the Arab states. Don’t you have fears that this conflict could spread?
We did not target civilians. It was the Hezbollah who were targeting civilians. It was using the civilians as human shields. We have the footage to prove so many incidents that they are going into apartments where families live and firing the rockets. What do you do when somebody is firing rockets into Haifa from one of those apartments? We were dropping leaflets to warn the civilian population to leave the areas we were about to bombard; where rockets were being launched from.
Israel-US relationship has made you regional bullies?
What have we requested? To live in peace. We have retreated from Gaza and Lebanon, but they are chasing us. Are we the bullies or being bullied?
How do you look at the future of Israel in the Middle East?
A new order is being established and we hope it will be implemented quickly, Israel has been able to achieve a very important goal, the attention of the world is now focused on achieving UN Resolution 1559, removing Hezbollah from the border and disarming them. The recent Israel moves have been able to strengthened the Lebanese government in the direction of assuming control over the entire Lebanon and not only central and Northern but also the Southern.
Assuming that the arc of moderation triumphs, we expect Israel to live peacefully with its neighbours.
How would you describe Uganda-Israel relationship?
We consider Uganda to be a very good friend of Israel. We feel that we can discuss everything with our Ugandan friends. Ugandan government has been very brave in holding hands with Israel in public when it comes to UN; Uganda is the country that abstained on the UN anti-Israel biased resolution concerning the Middles East.
In that sense we believe that there is so much that can be gained out of this friendship and we thank Ugandans and the government for the positive position and all our engagements with the government have been peaceful and beneficial for both sides.
In one obvious move, Israel Magenda vida dom which is equivalent to the Red Cross, was accepted into the ICRC which has been a process going on for years and the Arab group was unwilling to accept it due to political reasons but Uganda has been active in supporting the move that Israel be accepted in the ICRC and indeed we have been accepted.
Press reports recently said that you have been training part of Uganda’s “Black Mamba†group which in Uganda is notorious with raiding the courts of law?
I have no idea. What I can say is that Israel and Uganda have been collaborating in many areas including foreign policy and other fields.
Ends
ANSWER: In May 2000 Israel retreated from Southern Lebanon complying with the UN resolutions 425 and implementing the demands of the International Community with the hope of establishing peace in the Middle East. Five Months afterwards, Israel was no longer in Lebanon, Hezbollah launches an attack against an Israel patrol kills and kidnaps three Israel soldier. Israel doesn’t not retaliate, negotiates with Hezbollah under the Sharon Government and three years later the bodies of the soldiers are returned to Israel in exchange of over 450 Lebanese prisoners. During the six years, Hezbollah has been bombarding occasionally the border between Israel and Lebanon, killing Israel citizens and soldiers. During the six years, Hezbollah has been arming itself through its patrons, Syria and mainly Iran. On July 12, Hezbollah entered 200 metres into Israel, ambushed a patrol of reservists, killed and kidnapped two more into Lebanon.
Was the Israel reaction justifiable?
Some say we over-reached but what is proportionality when thousands of missiles are aimed at Israel villages and towns? The threat of terrorist actions exist everyday. The kind of threat Israel citizens are facing is immense. Hezbollah has over 13,000 rockets and missiles. It is the only terrorist organisation in the world with surface to sea missiles.
Aren’t you surprised by the Hezbollah’s persistent ability to fire large numbers of rockets into Israel?
Not at all. It is enough for one terrorist to run into an apartment in Southern Lebanon and fire a missile and then they will say Hezbollah is able to withstand Israel attacks. We know we can’t eradicate Hezbollah as an organisation but we will harm its missiles, weapons, its infrastructure, surveillance, equipment and its legitimacy among the Lebanese public.
We did strike the Hezbollah’s southern quarters in Beirut which is their headquarters and houses communication systems, command and control centres. They know what they are doing when leadership is running and hiding from one bunker to another.
What can the Lebanese government do about Hezbollah?
We expect the Lebanese government to deploy its forces in Southern Lebanon; we expect them to assume responsibility over what is Hezbollah land.
Why were there no negotiations or prisoner exchange this time round?
They kidnapped once and we negotiated once and they thought that they could kidnap again and we would negotiate again. We have decided to put a halt to that. Hezbollah is going away and will not come back again. Out of destruction comes creation and a new order will arise in which Hezbollah will no longer be able to drag the entire region into war.
Couldn’t we have seen a better way out of this crisis?
If Hezbollah had surrendered the soldiers immediately after capturing them and stopped these provocations there would be no need for war. We did not want to go into Lebanon; we did no want to bombard Beirut. If there was another option where they would have retreated giving us the soldiers, declaring no more provocations there would be no war.
You killed hundreds of civilians in the pretext of hunting down Hezbollah thus attracting the wrath of the Arab states. Don’t you have fears that this conflict could spread?
We did not target civilians. It was the Hezbollah who were targeting civilians. It was using the civilians as human shields. We have the footage to prove so many incidents that they are going into apartments where families live and firing the rockets. What do you do when somebody is firing rockets into Haifa from one of those apartments? We were dropping leaflets to warn the civilian population to leave the areas we were about to bombard; where rockets were being launched from.
Israel-US relationship has made you regional bullies?
What have we requested? To live in peace. We have retreated from Gaza and Lebanon, but they are chasing us. Are we the bullies or being bullied?
How do you look at the future of Israel in the Middle East?
A new order is being established and we hope it will be implemented quickly, Israel has been able to achieve a very important goal, the attention of the world is now focused on achieving UN Resolution 1559, removing Hezbollah from the border and disarming them. The recent Israel moves have been able to strengthened the Lebanese government in the direction of assuming control over the entire Lebanon and not only central and Northern but also the Southern.
Assuming that the arc of moderation triumphs, we expect Israel to live peacefully with its neighbours.
How would you describe Uganda-Israel relationship?
We consider Uganda to be a very good friend of Israel. We feel that we can discuss everything with our Ugandan friends. Ugandan government has been very brave in holding hands with Israel in public when it comes to UN; Uganda is the country that abstained on the UN anti-Israel biased resolution concerning the Middles East.
In that sense we believe that there is so much that can be gained out of this friendship and we thank Ugandans and the government for the positive position and all our engagements with the government have been peaceful and beneficial for both sides.
In one obvious move, Israel Magenda vida dom which is equivalent to the Red Cross, was accepted into the ICRC which has been a process going on for years and the Arab group was unwilling to accept it due to political reasons but Uganda has been active in supporting the move that Israel be accepted in the ICRC and indeed we have been accepted.
Press reports recently said that you have been training part of Uganda’s “Black Mamba†group which in Uganda is notorious with raiding the courts of law?
I have no idea. What I can say is that Israel and Uganda have been collaborating in many areas including foreign policy and other fields.
Ends