BEIRUT, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Caretaker Education Minister Marwan Hamade Thursday called upon the Lebanese government to commit Hezbollah to the full implementation of UN Resolution 1701 in a bid to gain the support of the international community facing Israel, local media reported.
"The Lebanese government need to ensure full implementation of Resolution 1701," Hamade told Voice of Lebanon Radio Channel.
On Dec. 4, Israel announced that its army had detected tunnels crossing from Lebanon into northern Israel and the country has started an operation to destroy them.
The United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) technical assessments have further determined that at least two of these tunnels cross the Blue Line and constitute violations of UN Resolution 1701.
While they are a serious violation of Resolution 1701, the tunnels do not appear to have exit points on the Israeli side so far.
UN Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix announced last week that UNIFIL was acting judiciously to complete its investigations of the tunnels, with technical teams on the ground, and to work with both Israel and Lebanon to ensure that any tunnels that are in violation of Resolution 1701 are disabled decisively and safely.
The UN Resolution 1701 called for an end to hostilities between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah forces, the deployment of the Lebanese army along the Israeli border, and the establishment of a weapons-free zone south of the Litani River, an important water resource in southern Lebanon.
