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With Hezbollah Away, Lebanon to Play (Ball)?

Lebanese soldier to be prosecuted in killing of Israeli soldier

by
Adam Chandler
December 17, 2013
Israeli-Lebanese Border (Wikimedia)
Israeli-Lebanese Border (Wikimedia)

The Lebanese soldier who opened fired on an IDF soldier on Sunday night, killing him as he was on his border patrol, will reportedly be prosecuted in Lebanon. According to an AP/Times of Israel report, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon announced today that Lebanese officials had notified the IDF of the development.

The serviceman who killed Cohen turned himself in to authorities in Lebanon on Monday morning, Lebanese media reported.



During a Monday meeting with the UN’s special coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called the shooting “an isolated incident of limited scope.”



Mikati added that he hoped the Lebanese-Israeli border would remain quiet, as per UN Resolution 1701.

It’s this last part that’s particularly interesting. UN Resolution 1701 was the measure passed to bring about the end of the Second Lebanon War in 2006 which, despite being a war between Israel and Hezbollah, was defined as a war between Israel and Lebanon. It called on Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah, which obviously didn’t happen. As it’s been noted frequently Hezbollah has actually re-armed significantly since the summer of 2006.

The prosecution of the soldier and Lebanon’s reference to UN Resolution 1701 seems an awfully tidy ending to this story. Following Sunday’s incident, both governments were quick to emphasize that they did not seek an escalation on the border. With much of Hezbollah away, aiding the Assad regime in Syria at the behest of its patrons in Iran, the swiftness of this development is worth noting. It’s interesting to imagine what would have happened if Hezbollah weren’t otherwise occupied right now.

Adam Chandler was previously a staff writer at Tablet. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Slate, Esquire, New York, and elsewhere. He tweets @allmychandler.