Goksel Skeptical about Amount of Hizbullah Arms The Times Reported
Former UNIFIL adviser Timor Goksel expressed skepticism about the amount of arms The Times has reported.
"Most of the figures being bandied about usually come from Israel," Goksel told The Daily Star. "I have never seen numbers from Lebanon; we cannot keep track in too much detail. To know such a precise number is impossible.
"It”s true that (Hizbullah) has weapons and no doubt they have got much more since 2006 but who can put a number on it?" he asked.
Goksel said Hizbullah”s alleged acquisition of anti-aircraft munitions was particularly noteworthy. "This is significant if it”s true. Hizbullah suffered tremendously from a lack of air defense in 2006.
"There”s no doubt that Israel could still overpower Hizbullah with its military powers but they are now aware it will be at a heavy price," Goksel told the daily.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday warned that any deterioration of the security situation along the northern border would be "the responsibility of the Lebanese government."
On the Israeli-occupied border village of Ghajar, Goksel told The Daily Star that any divide of Ghajar would prove unpopular with its residents.
"Lieberman doesn”t really care about the civilians (in Ghajar)," he said. "Until now, the villagers have Israeli ID cards and they have been resisting this (proposed divide)."
Goksel said that any attempt to split the village and hand control over to UNIFIL would not prove to be permanent.
"We have to confront the problem that eventually Lebanese people will come to the village and (UNIFIL) will have obligations to Israel. It cannot go on like this – at one point, everybody in Lebanon will challenge this. It”s a very temporary solution."
The Times of London said in a report published Wednesday that Hizbullah has amassed up to 40,000 rockets close to the Blue Line. The report claimed that Hizbullah "is training its forces to use ground-to-ground missiles capable of hitting Tel Aviv" as well as anti-aircraft missiles "that could challenge Israel”s dominance of the skies over Lebanon."