In South Lebanon.. Israel Interrogates a Mayor!

President of the Republic General Joseph Aoun said on the 44th anniversary of the assassination of President Bachir Gemayel, which falls tomorrow, Monday:

“Every year on September 14, Lebanon pauses at one of the major milestones in its national memory, recalling the image of President-elect and martyr Bachir Gemayel, who was struck down by treacherous bullets before he could assume his constitutional duties. He thus became a martyr on the altar of the nation, and his name remains engraved in the conscience of the Lebanese as a symbol of faith in Lebanon as a message, and in its sovereignty and freedom.

Al-Modon newspaper reported that “the efforts undertaken by President of the Republic General Joseph Aoun were aimed at sparing Nabatieh the fate of Ali al-Taher. This led to the decision to deploy the Lebanese Army and other security agencies and prevent Hezbollah from carrying out any field or military activity in the city.”

According to the information, the Americans agreed to this and granted Lebanon a deadline to prove its ability to achieve that objective. However, this did not prevent Israel from blowing up the Ali al-Taher tunnels with more than 1,100 tons of explosives, raising numerous questions about what happened inside the facility and how Hezbollah members and Iranians managed to leave it. Another question concerns what comes after Ali al-Taher: Will Israeli military activity ease and further expansion stop, or will Tel Aviv choose to move toward other areas such as Jabal al-Rihan and Iqlim al-Tuffah?

An-Nahar newspaper reported that “the postponement of the eighth round of Lebanese-Israeli negotiations under U.S. sponsorship, previously scheduled to take place in Rome in September, was neither surprising nor unexpected to most observers. Rather, confirmation of the postponement reinforced what many had already anticipated amid overlapping and competing regional and Lebanese developments. It appeared logical to defer several unresolved issues related to the situation on the ground in the south until the picture becomes clearer regarding developments that directly affect both the negotiations and the field situation, even though the announcement postponing the eighth round did not explicitly mention them.”