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Hezbollah Has Violated a Major UN Resolution Since October — and No One Cares
Members of the United Nations Security Council meet on the day of a vote on a Gaza resolution that demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan leading to a permanent ceasefire, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, March 25, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
Following the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1701, at the time perceived as a strongly worded document.
It was aimed at not just maintaining the ceasefire, but at strengthening the hands of the government in Beirut by endorsing and calling for the central government to assert control over the entire country.
However, for the most part, Resolution 1701 has reflected the toothless inability of the international body to take those words and effectively implement them on the ground.
The 2006 war was not between two countries, but between Israel and the terrorist Hezbollah organization, headed by Hassan Nasrallah.
Hezbollah is funded, trained, and armed by Iran. The terrorist group is not under the control of the Lebanese government and is not part of the Lebanese Armed Forces, and thus considers itself not obligated at all to the document. Its terrorist activities have been documented for years.
Resolution 1701: In Its Own Words
Two paragraphs in the UNSC resolution appeared to have been directly aimed at Hezbollah [emphasis added]:
“security arrangements to prevent the resumption of hostilities, including the establishment between the Blue Line and the Litani river of an area free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the Government of Lebanon and of UNIFIL …”
“full implementation of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, and of (UNSC) resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006), that require the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that, pursuant to the Lebanese cabinet decision of 27 July 2006, there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese State.”
In short, Resolution 1701 calls for the disarming of Hezbollah and the deployment of the Lebanese army to exert sovereignty — especially in the south of the country along the Lebanon-Israel border. That area is monitored by UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon, which is tasked with monitoring the area, and whose heavy presence was intended to dissuade militias.
Resolution 1701: The Shortcomings
In practice, the Resolution proved to be toothless. At the time, experts at the respected Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv concluded that Resolution 1701 “provides no effective mechanism for action to disarm Hezbollah or terminate its existence as a state within a state.”
Analyst Aiman Mansour noted that Hezbollah and Nasrallah were not affected by 1701, which created “a situation in which Lebanon after the campaign is little different from Lebanon before it … it does not create any framework that can threaten Hezbollah’s existence or ongoing terrorist activity.”
Thirteen years after Resolution 1701 was passed, Hezbollah is not only armed, but its weapons inventory has been greatly increased and it remains fully deployed south of the Litani River — as if the UN Security Council Resolution never happened.
Estimates put Hezbollah’s rocket and missile inventory at more than 130,000 — enough to theoretically fire 1,000 rockets a day at Israel for more than four months straight.
Iran’s Covert Scheme to Upgrade Hezbollah’s Rocket Arsenal Revealedhttps://t.co/C785TvrTkz pic.twitter.com/O6KiNGJRRi
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) February 28, 2019
UNIFIL was created in 1978, ostensibly to help the Lebanese government assert sovereignty over the south of the country that had been controlled by armed militias. The UN forks out almost half a billion dollars annually to operate the peacekeeping force. As of August 2019, UNIFIL consisted of 10,277 peacekeepers from 44 troop-contributing countries, while Hezbollah is estimated to have 21,000 active fighters.
Powerless Peacekeepers
Since 2006, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) has deployed units in the south, but military control of the area is firmly in Hezbollah’s grasp.
Hezbollah operates under UNIFIL’s nose and it is the de facto force controlling the area along the entire length of the Lebanon-Israel border. Indeed, bright yellow Hezbollah flags dominate over the Lebanese national flag.
Aside from a number of cross-border missile and gunfire skirmishes, as well as the Hezbollah attack that sparked the 2006 war, the most blatant example of UNIFIL’s weakness was the numerous cross border attack tunnels dug by Hezbollah into Israeli territory. The goal of the tunnels, which were revealed in 2018, was to wreak havoc in Israel: capture and kill Israeli civilians and soldiers, and yet somehow avoid an all-out war which would be catastrophic to Lebanon and damaging to Israel (though that calculus may have changed after October 7).
Although UNIFIL recognized that the tunnels were a “violation of the cease-fire agreement,” the UN peacekeepers were powerless to take any action.
“UNIFIL’s insistent requests to the Lebanese authorities to take immediate further action in this regard were left unanswered, and UNIFIL’s access to the site continues to be prevented by the Lebanese Armed Forces, despite repeated requests,” the Security Council said in a report afterwards.
UNIFIL peacekeepers patrolling in Southern Lebanon.
The UN is generally known for its patience, with diplomats doing their jobs to negotiate, seek compromise, and work towards consensus-oriented solutions. However, that patience sometimes wears thin, especially when the United States is involved.
At the annual renewal of UNIFIL’s mandate in 2019, the US delegation voted with the other UNSC members to keep UNIFIL going for another year, but noted that UNIFIL has been prevented from accessing Hezbollah’s tunnels.
“Given that UNIFIL cannot fulfill a task within its mandate, it’s time to re-examine the Force’s troop strength and resource efficiency,” the Americans said.
Lebanese Frustration
Frustration with Resolution 1701 is also apparent with some parties inside Lebanon, whose fractious and fragile government coalition of Sunnis, Shiites, Christians, and Druze has been unable to reign in Lebanese militias — most notably Hezbollah and Nasrallah — to fulfill the resolution’s mandate “that there will be no weapons without the consent of the Government of Lebanon and no authority other than that of the Government of Lebanon.”
“Resolution 1701 has not been respected since 2006 and is being violated on a daily basis, whether by Israel, through its air and sea breaches of Lebanese sovereignty, or by Hezbollah, and its claim that it is charged, alone, with the task of defending Lebanon,” said retired Lebanese Brig. Gen. Khaled Hamade, the former director the Strategic Research & Studies Centre of the Lebanese Armed Forces.
Since then, Hezbollah has become so powerful, that Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri admitted that Lebanon can’t rein in Hezbollah and disavowed responsibility. The dangers inherent in the failure to implement the provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 are obvious. Hezbollah, a recognized terrorist organization, continues to be armed and directed by Iran. There is no international pressure to force Hezbollah to drop its policy of being a state-within-a-state, with its own large, dangerously-armed private army.
Despite its positive-sounding intentions, Resolution 1701 is an abject failure. Hezbollah has no incentive to change its central ideologies and policies, which mimic Iran’s repeatedly stated national goal for the “full annihilation of Israel.”
Paul Shindman has a long career in both journalism and high-tech in Israel, most recently serving as head of research and content for The Israel Project. He rose to the position of Bureau Chief in charge of operations for United Press International in Jerusalem, and has done production work for TV news networks as well as stringing and blogging for various newspapers, magazines, and websites. With a background in engineering and computing Paul worked at Israeli tech companies ranging from startups to multi-nationals. His first job in Israel was working at Israel’s first ice skating rinks and he is the founder of Israel’s national ice sports associations.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Hezbollah Has Violated a Major UN Resolution Since October — and No One Cares first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Faces Dual Attacks as Houthis and Hamas Target Major Cities, IDF Expands Ground Operations in Gaza
A Houthi fighter mans a machine gun mounted on a truck during a parade for people who attended Houthi military training as part of a mobilization campaign, in Sanaa, Yemen, Dec. 18, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Millions of Israelis scrambled for shelter overnight as Iran-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen launched a ballistic missile at Israel, setting off air-raid sirens across the center of the country and the Jerusalem area, and was followed hours later by a Hamas rocket barrage targeting Tel Aviv on Thursday afternoon.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported intercepting the missile from Yemen before it entered Israeli airspace, while the Iron Dome intercepted a further three missiles from Hamas later on, triggering sirens throughout the metropolitan area. While there were no reported casualties, shrapnel from intercepted rockets was found in Rishon Lezion. The rocket fire came as the IDF expanded its ground operations in Gaza, warning Palestinian civilians to avoid the Netzarim Corridor, a strategic seven-kilometer road that bisects the enclave.
The United States has urged Israel not to respond directly to the Houthi missile strike, according to a Hebrew-language Ynet report citing an Israeli official. US forces already carried out airstrikes against the Houthis — who have targeted American and Israeli ships in the Red Sea and disrupted global shipping through the critical trade route — in recent days and told Israel to “allow them to handle the situation,” the report said.
Eitan Shamir, a security expert, noted that, regardless, it would not be wise — and neither within its capabilities — for Israel to secure the Red Sea without help.
“Achieving this objective cannot be accomplished by Israel alone and will require the involvement of the international community,” he told The Algemeiner. “The Israeli Navy lacks the capabilities to secure Israeli shipping in the southern Red Sea independently. Politically, it is also undesirable for Israel to take on the responsibility of addressing a problem that is internationally recognized, particularly since Israel is often accused of causing it due to its attacks on Gaza.”
Nevertheless, Shamir added, Israel’s “goal for ending the conflict is to ensure complete freedom of navigation to and from its waters.”
Shamir, who is the director of Bar-Ilan University’s Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, also underscored recent US State Department decisions against the Houthis, including reinstating its foreign terrorist designation and its $15 million reward for information on its financing. Still, he said, “the impact of these actions on the Houthis’ blockade in the southern part of the Red Sea is currently unclear.”
Shamir highlighted reports suggesting that China was providing financial protection to the Houthis to ensure its own ships remain unharmed.
The expansion of Iranian activities into the Mediterranean Sea has raised further concerns. Shamir highlighted the likelihood that Israel’s navy will need to increase its operational presence in both the Red Sea and Mediterranean, potentially requiring additional vessels to secure shipping lanes. Cooperation with the US Fifth Fleet and allied naval forces will remain crucial to maintaining stability in these waterways, he said.
Shamir warned against unilateral action, saying, “It is not in Israel’s best interest to act unilaterally to deter the Houthis.” Instead, he urged Israel to let the US take the lead, including pressuring Iran, which “undoubtedly has influence over the Houthis, to stop the attacks on Israel.”
Meanwhile, the IDF targeted key Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist operatives. Among those eliminated was Rashid Jahjouh, head of Hamas’s General Security Apparatus, who was responsible for maintaining internal security and intelligence operations, identifying and targeting “collaborators” and spreading propaganda. Also killed was Ayman Etsilah, a senior Hamas security official in Khan Yunis, and Ismail Abd al-Aal, a high-ranking figure in Islamic Jihad’s weapons smuggling network.
The IDF and Shin Bet confirmed that these operations were part of broader efforts to dismantle the leadership and infrastructure of terrorist groups in the enclave.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad, like the Houthis, are both backed by Iran, which provides the Palestinian terrorist groups with weapons and funding.
Several other Hamas leaders have been killed since Israel resumed strikes earlier this week, including Yasser Muhammad Harb Musa, who managed Hamas’s security portfolio, and Ayssam al-Dalis, the head of Hamas’s Gaza government. Mahmoud Marzouk Ahmed Abu Watfa, responsible for Hamas’s internal security, and Ahmed Abdulla Al-hata, the group’s Minister of Justice, were also among those targeted.
The current escalation follows the collapse of a temporary ceasefire and hostage-release deal that lasted 42 days, during which the terror group released 30 living hostages and the remains of eight slain captives, while Israel freed nearly 2,000 Palestinian security prisoners.
The post Israel Faces Dual Attacks as Houthis and Hamas Target Major Cities, IDF Expands Ground Operations in Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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BBC Apologizes to Israeli Embassy for Seeking Anti-Netanyahu Guest for News Program
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a memorial ceremony for those murdered by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and those who fell in the “Iron Sword” war, at the Knesset, the Parliament, in Jerusalem, Oct. 28, 2024. Photo: DEBBIE HILL/Pool via REUTERS
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) issued an apology on Thursday after a producer asked the Israeli Embassy to the United Kingdom to help the BBC find a guest who would be critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“This was a serious mistake which we have looked into,” the corporation said in a statement to The Jewish Chronicle. “It clearly falls well below our standards. We apologize unreservedly to the Israeli Embassy.”
Embassy spokeswoman Orly Goldschmidt shared Thursday on X that her team at the Israeli Embassy in London received a WhatsApp message from a BBC World Service producer, who was looking for guest who would appear on the television program “Newshour.” The producer said the show’s presenter would specifically like to interview “an Israeli military voice (can be former)” who would be “critical of Netanyahu” and Israel’s new ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
“We want someone who is going to be critical of Netanyahu and the ground offense (concern about remaining hostages, stretching the IDF capacity, destruction of Gaza or any other reason). Do you think you can help with this?” the producer wrote. Goldschmidt shared a screenshot of the message on X and denounced the comments, claiming that it shows “BBC bias (yet again).”
“Today my team received this remarkable message from a @BBC producer at @bbcworldservice,” she wrote. “They don’t want to interview someone knowledgeable, nor someone relevant, just someone who fits the predetermined narrative. There is nothing balanced or impartial about this.”
BBC BIAS (yet again)
Today my team received this remarkable message from a @BBC producer at @bbcworldservice.
They don’t want to interview someone knowledgeable, nor someone relevant, just someone who fits the predetermined narrative.
There is nothing balanced or impartial… pic.twitter.com/pm0loEeUFG
— Orly Goldschmidt
(@Orlygoldschmidt) March 20, 2025
The British volunteer-led charity Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said the incident is another example “of @BBC putting its thumb on the scale to report its narrative masquerading as news.”
“Another time the BBC is caught out. Another apology. For all the times the BBC is caught out, how many times is it not caught out?” CAA added. “The unrelenting bias on our televisions, from our radios and on the BBC website answers that question. How many more scandals do there need to before there is an independent investigation into the BBC?”
Others who have criticized the BBC’s most recent blunder include politicians in the UK, and international human rights activist and lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky.
The incident followed the BBC late last month pulling a documentary about Palestinian children living in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war and apologizing for making “serious flaws” in the film after it was revealed that it was narrated by a Palestinian boy who is the son of a senior Hamas official. The BBC also acknowledged that licensing fee payments for the film “Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone” were given to the family of the Hamas official. The controversy sparked protests outside of the BBC headquarters in London, and an organization of pro-Israel lawyers in the United Kingdom reported the BBC to counter-terrorism police for possible terrorism offenses, which include allegedly funding a terrorist group.
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Germany Reopens Embassy in Damascus, Establishing Official Diplomatic Ties With Syria’s New Regime
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks during a press conference in Damascus, Syria, March 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Germany reopened its embassy in Damascus on Thursday, 13 years since its closure during the early days of Syria’s civil war, as both countries work to strengthen their bilateral relations.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Damascus — her second trip since the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December — to mark Berlin’s establishment of official diplomatic relations with the new Syrian government.
“I am here in Syria for the second time in around 10 weeks because the country and its future are on a knife edge,” Baerbock said at a news conference. “We can’t predict what will happen in a few months or perhaps a few weeks’ time.”
As a show of support for Syria’s nascent regime, Berlin reopened its embassy in the country in an effort to improve diplomatic relations, while pledging economic assistance and sanctions relief to aid the new government and the country’s reconstruction efforts.
Of the European Union’s 27 member states, only Italy reopened its embassy last year before Assad’s fall, while Spain did so after his ouster.
In a statement, Baerbock said her trip was intended to convey the message that “a political new beginning between Europe and Syria, between Germany and Syria, is possible.”
She also said there are “clear expectations that there is freedom, security, and opportunity in Syria for all people — for women and men, for people belonging to all ethnic groups and religions.”
Earlier this month, clashes between fighters loyal to Assad and forces aligned with Syria’s new rulers sparked the worst violence since the new government seized power, leaving over 1,000 people dead. In a series of confrontations, fighters supporting the new Syrian government carried out mass executions of Alawite Muslim civilians.
According to Syria’s interior ministry, the pro-government fighters conducted “sweeping operations” to dismantle the last “remnants” of Assad’s regime, targeting primarily adult men.
However, the ensuing mass killing of Alawites, who comprise roughly 10 percent of the Syrian population, has raised concern among the international community about the safety of minority groups in the country.
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa decried the massacres, claiming they undermined his efforts to unite the country and vowing to seek retribution for the violence.
“Syria is a state of law. The law will take its course on all,” Sharaa told Reuters. “We fought to defend the oppressed, and we won’t accept that any blood be shed unjustly, or go without punishment or accountability, even among those closest to us.”
In late January, Sharaa became Damascus’s transitional president after leading a rebel campaign that ousted Assad, whose Iran-backed rule had strained ties with the Arab world during the nearly 14-year Syrian war.
The collapse of Assad’s regime was the result of an offensive spearheaded by Sharaa’s Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, a former al-Qaeda affiliate.
During her visit on Thursday, Baerbock said the recent clashes had “massively cost confidence” among the international community. Germany’s top diplomat emphasized that the new Syrian government “must have control over the actions of the groups in its own ranks and bring those responsible to account.”
After the recent clashes, Syria’s new Islamist-led government — backed by Turkey — and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group reached a ceasefire agreement.
Under the new deal between the Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian government, the SDF will be integrated into Damascus’s institutions. In exchange, the agreement gives the Syrian government control over SDF-held civilian and military sites in the northeast region of the country.
Baerbock praised the “historic” agreement and emphasized the importance of including other groups to ensure they feel like they are “part of a new Syria.”
Since Assad’s fall, the new Syrian government has sought to strengthen ties with Arab and Western leaders. Damascus’s new diplomatic relationships reflect a distancing from its previous allies, Iran and Russia.
The new Syrian government appears focused on reassuring the West and working to get sanctions lifted, which date back to 1979 when the US labeled Syria a state sponsor of terrorism and were significantly increased following Assad’s violent response to the anti-government protests.
The Assad regime’s brutal crackdown on opposition protests in 2011 sparked the Syrian civil war, during which Syria was suspended from the Arab League for more than a decade.
Earlier this week, European Union countries pledged to continue supporting Syria’s new leadership through both financial aid and sanctions relief, despite an outbreak of sectarian violence threatening the country’s stability.
Germany committed to providing €300 million in support for food, health, and other essential services for the Syrian population.
“As Europeans, we stand together for the people of Syria, for a free and peaceful Syria,” Baerbock said during the annual donor conference for Syria in Brussels.
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