Seoul Gazette - One killed in Lebanon as Israel-Hezbollah truce deadline looms

Lebanon has faced unrest this week after a government decision to block Iranian flights from landing in Beirut, with a UN peacekeeper convoy attacked during protests by supporters of Hezbollah, which on Sunday urged the government to reverse the move.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a joint address with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem that "in the case of Lebanon, our goals are aligned... A strong Lebanese state that can take on and disarm Hezbollah".

A fragile ceasefire between Israel and the militant group has been in effect since November 27 after more than a year of hostilities including two months of all-out war.

Both sides have traded accusations of violations, and Israel on Saturday said it targeted a senior militant from Hezbollah's aerial unit, in a strike that Lebanese official media said killed two.

On Sunday, Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) said Israeli forces opened fire towards the southern border town of Hula "after residents entered", killing a woman.

Under the ceasefire deal, Lebanon's military was to deploy in the south alongside United Nations peacekeepers as the Israeli army withdrew over a 60-day period.

Hezbollah was also to pull back north of the Litani River -- about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border -- and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.

The withdrawal period was extended to February 18.

- 'Must be disarmed' -

Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel would do what it has to in order to "enforce" the ceasefire.

"Hezbollah must be disarmed. And Israel would prefer that the Lebanese army do that job, but no one should doubt that Israel will do what it has to do to enforce the understandings of the ceasefire and defend our security," Netanyahu said.

On Thursday, a senior Israeli security official said the military was prepared to withdraw from Lebanese territory "within the timeline" set by the US-French-mediated ceasefire agreement.

That day, Lebanon's parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, said the United States had informed him that, while Israel would withdraw on February 18, "it will remain in five locations".

Lebanese officials have rejected the demand.

Hezbollah was left weakened by the war, which saw a slew of senior commanders and even its longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah killed in Israeli strikes.

Lebanon has elected a new president and appointed a new government this year, after more than two years of political deadlock, as the balance of power shifted.

Protests erupted this week when authorities blocked Iranian planes from landing in Beirut.

A UN convoy was attacked near Beirut airport during a protest involving Hezbollah supporters, and two peacekeepers were wounded.

The Lebanese army said 23 soldiers were wounded in related unrest on Saturday.

Israel's military warned this week that Iran's Quds Force and Hezbollah were using civilian flights to smuggle money for re-arming the Lebanese group.

Israel has previously accused Hezbollah of using Beirut's airport to transport Iranian weapons, allegations the group and the Lebanese authorities deny.

- 'Gravely mistaken' -

Hezbollah on Sunday urged the government to reverse the decision "and take serious measures to prevent the Israeli enemy from imposing its dictates".

A Lebanese source told AFP on Saturday that Lebanon had denied permission for Iranian flights to land twice this week, after the United States warned Israel might strike the airport.

Iran's state news agency IRNA quoted the head of its civil aviation organisation Hossein Pourfarzaneh as saying the body was "following up on this issue daily and we are also waiting to see what will happen on February 18".

Hezbollah lost a supply route when Islamist-led rebels in December ousted ally Bashar al-Assad in neighbouring Syria.

Rubio said that "while the fall of Assad is certainly promising", Washington would be watching Syria "very carefully".

Netanyahu warned "Israel will act to prevent any threat from emerging near our border in southwest Syria".

"If any force in Syria today believes that Israel will permit other hostile forces to use Syria as a base of operations against us, they are gravely mistaken," he added.

Israel conducted hundreds of strikes in Syria after war broke out there in 2011, mainly targeting Assad government forces and pro-Iran groups including Hezbollah.

It also conducted strikes after Assad's fall, and Israeli troops have entered the UN-patrolled buffer zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.

A.Byun--SG