The Ceasefire

I don't want to sound defeatist, but I also don't want to be unrealistic.

Unfortunately, the ceasefire will probably be brief, if it is achieved at all.

And why will it not last?

Simple.

Nothing has changed. The shooting has stopped TEMPORARILY. That's all.

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel halted its offensive against Hezbollah guerrillas as a U.N.-imposed cease-fire went into effect Monday after a month of warfare that killed more than 900 people, devastated much of south Lebanon and forced hundreds of thousands of Israelis into bomb shelters.

A half hour after the cease-fire took hold, Israeli warplanes — a regular fixture in Lebanese skies during the monthlong war — were absent across huge swaths of the country, including the Bekaa Valley, where airstrikes hit about an hour before.

Israel complied with the UN ceasefire resolution.

Too bad Lebanon didn't comply with Security Council resolution 1559. If it had, in all likelihood, the death and destruction of the past five weeks would have been avoided.

...There were no immediate reports of Hezbollah rockets being fired into Israel, a day after it fired more than 250 rockets, the worst daily barrage since fighting started July 12.

How long will that last?

Will the pause be hours, days, or months long before the rockets are fired into Israel again?

...The army said in a statement the military was told not to initiate any action after 8 a.m. (1 a.m. EST) Monday, but "the forces will do everything to prevent being hit."

In the final hours before the truce, however, Israeli warplanes struck a Hezbollah stronghold in eastern Lebanon and a Palestinian refugee camp in the south, killing two people, and Israeli artillery pounded targets across the border through the night.

The airstrikes continued until 15 minutes before the truce went into force, destroying an antenna for Hezbollah's Al-Manar television southeast of Beirut.

The cease-fire was passed by the U.N. Security Council on Friday and approved by the Israeli and Lebanese governments. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah also signaled his acceptance.

Who cares if Nasrallah signaled his acceptance?

He's a terrorist.

We don't negotiate with terrorists.

...The deployment of the Lebanese army along Israel's border, with an equal number of U.N. peacekeepers, was a cornerstone of the cease-fire resolution passed Friday by the U.N. Security Council. The forces are supposed to keep Hezbollah fighters out of an 18-mile-wide zone between the border and Lebanon's Litani River.

Officials said Israeli troops would begin leaving southern Lebanon as soon as the Lebanese army and the international force started to deploy in the area. But the military will maintain its air and sea blockade of Lebanon to prevent arms from reaching Hezbollah guerrillas, a military official said.

France and Italy, along with predominantly Muslim Turkey and Malaysia, signaled willingness Saturday to contribute troops to the peacekeeping force, but consultations are still needed to hammer out the force's makeup and mandate and it was uncertain when it would be in place.

...The Israeli military also dropped leaflets on central Beirut early Monday, warning it would retaliate for any attack launched against it from Lebanon.

One leaflet said Hezbollah serves the interests of its Iranian and Syrian patrons and has "brought destruction, Lebanon against the State of Israel." Addressed to Lebanon's citizens, it said, "Will you be able to pay this price again?"



...Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, said Saturday that his guerrillas would abide by the cease-fire resolution, but warned it was "our natural right" to fight any Israeli troops remaining in Lebanon.

I don't think Hezbollah will abide by the ceasefire for very long because it doesn't want the hostilities to cease.

It wants Israel to cease to exist.