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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran | |
| Iran, Syria still send arms to Hezbollah: Israel | |
| 2009-07-17 | |
| Israel accused Iran and Syria on Thursday of sending weapons to Lebanon's Hezbollah in violation of a UN ceasefire after one of the group's arms warehouses in south Lebanon blew up. The Lebanese group, which is both a popular political movement and a powerful guerrilla organisation, is backed by both Syria and Iran. The conditions of the 2006 ceasefire that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war prohibit weapons smuggling to Hezbollah and forbid the group from engaging in military activities in south Lebanon. Lebanese officials say explosions on Tuesday in a supposedly abandoned building 10 miles north of the Israeli border were caused by a fire in a Hezbollah weapons storage facility. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said on Thursday that the incident was evidence of "Iranian and Syrian efforts to continue to transfer weapons to Hezbollah in direct and flagrant violation" of the UN ceasefire that ended the war. A senior Israeli officer told reporters on Thursday the warehouse contained short-range rockets that were smuggled from Syria. The warehouse was one of dozens of similar Hezbollah arms depots across south Lebanon and part of a "buildup" of the group's strength there, the officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with military regulations. The UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon on Wednesday called the incident a "serious violation" of the ceasefire.
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| Posted by:Fred |