Hizbullah will mark three years since the "victory over Israel" in the Second Lebanon War with a rally in the Dahiya neighborhood in south Beirut on Friday evening.
Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah is set to address the gathering, and according to Lebanese media, he will speak about Israel’s recent threats against the terror organization and Lebanon.
Last week, Defense Minister Barak warned that Israel would consider military action if Hizbullah altered the military balance, and also said that if another war erupted along the northern border, the IDF would have more operational freedom to target Lebanese infrastructure than it had three years ago. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned Beirut that if Hizbullah becomes an official member of Lebanon’s government, "we will hold the government accountable for any aggression against Israel coming out of its territory."
According to one of the reports, Nasrallah will warn Israel that if it attacks Hizbullah’s Dahiya stronghold, the group will strike Tel Aviv.
On Thursday, UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams expressed hope that once built, the new Lebanese government would fully implement UN Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War.
"Today I also expressed hope for the next government, once formed, to work effectively to renew its commitment to the resolution and to work on its full implementation," Williams said following a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri.
Williams said Lebanese authorities and several political factions had pledged their commitment to the UN resolution, and that he would work to ensure its proper implementation.
Meanwhile, in an article in Lebanon’s A-Nahar newspaper on Friday, Williams said that while the UN resolution had not brought a complete end to violence and bloodshed, it had contributed to an extended period of stability, the likes of which had not been seen in the region for a quarter of a century.
Williams maintained that the resolution had helped Lebanon spread its sovereignty over all its territory and deploy armed forces in the south.
He claimed that the IAF was still conducting overflights in Lebanese airspace, but said that despite the forays and Israel’s continued hold of the northern section of the Ghajar border village, there had been a certain degree of progress in efforts to settle the Shaba Farms issue.
Williams launched a scathing attack on Hizbullah, and said that several recent incidents, including the July 14 arms cache explosion in southern Lebanon, demonstrated the sensitivity of the situation and how quickly it could deteriorate.
Also Friday, a Lebanese news agency reported that local security forces had uncovered another network spying for Israel.
According to the report, several of the cell’s members had been arrested and a manhunt was underway for six others.
The agency, A-Sharq Al-Jadid, said that the suspects belonged to a Lebanese political party.
In other news, Arab sources reported that Syrian President Bashar Assad will visit Hizbullah backer Iran next week in order to offer his congratulations to his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his recent election victory.
Assad was the first leader to congratulate the Iranian president with a telegram after the disputed election results giving him a second term were published.