Soccer Dad

The alarm was set for 1701

Though it's not really news, today's NYT reports that Hezbollah has been caught violating Resolution 1701 again.

General Kochavi said that the building "contained a lot of mortars, shells and rockets and other kinds of ammunition," adding that Israel believed that the process of rearming by Hezbollah had mushroomed in the past three years despite the United Nations resolution and the presence of international peacekeeping troops in southern Lebanon.

Resolution 1701 calls for the area that includes Khirbet Slem to be free of any armed personnel or weapons other than those of the Lebanese government and United Nations forces. Israel says Hezbollah has thousands of rockets hidden in the area.

"What we are trying to say is that there is an intensive process of trying to establish a terror entity on our doorstep," General Kochavi said. "This is something the world must acknowledge. This is a reminder. We hope it will be a wake-up call."

The general added that United Nations troops had tried to get to the site of the explosion but were stopped by Hezbollah. He said that group, which is supported by Iran, uses the villages of the south as a major base of operations, which deeply concerns Israel.

A few weeks ago Jonathan Spyer wrote:

Hizbullah's creator and most enthusiastic backer - The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps - is emerging as the victor in the power struggle under way in Iran. Hizbullah is a key asset for Iran in its ongoing bid for regional hegemony. The larger struggle of which the 2006 war was an episode is still under way.

The reactivation of the northern front at some time in some future turn of events thus remains likely. The most meaningful form of remembrance of the dead of 2006 is in ensuring that when that time comes, the systems tasked with defending Israel are properly prepared and properly led.

Since Israel can't be blamed, |I suppose that the likelihood of a world reaction is kind of small, still, as the general said, this should serve as a wake up call.