While the Israeli government does not tackle the Jewish, anti-Christian extremists in its own backyard, it frequently interferes with the territorial independence of Lebanon.
The Daily Star reports: "The Israeli army will show 'no restraint' in attacking civilian centers in south Lebanon and Beirut should another war break out with Hezbollah, [Israeli Air Force chief Major-General Amir Eshel] told the German Die Zeit newspaper."
This comes after similar comments by Israeli Brigadier General Moni Katz in April of this year.
"Officially, Lebanon is at a state of war against Israel. Currently, the borders are being supervised by UNFIL forces (mainly forces from European and Asian countries) in addition to the Lebanese army. Lebanon is a small country, but it comprises of 18 recognized religious sects. The main two religions are Christianity (the Maronite Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Assyrian Church of the East) and Islam (Shi'a and Sunni). There is also the Druze minority religion, and there is a small Jewish population. Because of the diversity, there are very few topics where all Lebanese agree, but on at least one thing we can: that Israel is unacceptably hostile towards Lebanon. In Lebanon, Israeli war planes and drones, without provocation, breach our air space on a daily basis, citing 'security reasons'. In addition, these forces sometimes stage mock attacks on Lebanese cities and emit sonic booms that frighten civilians. It is perhaps needless to say that relations are very unfriendly," Cheikh Malek el-Khazen said in an interview last September.
This should also be noted: "Jerusalem and the region's holy sites are also unresolved issues. The Vatican in the past supported making Jerusalem and towns such as nearby Bethlehem a corpus separatum, an international city controlled by the UN under Resolution 181. ... More recently, particularly following a 2002 battle between Palestinians and the Israeli army that damaged the Church of the Nativity, the Vatican has renewed calls for an international agreement to protect holy sites." (CFR)
