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Israel

Hizbollah holds fire on Hariri

July 7, 2011 11:20

By

Anshel Pfeffer,

Anshel Pfeffer

1 min read

The announcement last week by a UN tribunal that it would file indictments against four members of Hizbollah over the murder of Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005 drew the expected response.

Sheikh Nasrallah said in a fiery speech that he would not deliver his men, "not even in 300 years", and presented documents and videos that, according to him, proved Israeli influence over the tribunal.

The Hariri tribunal has been a major bone of contention within Lebanese politics for the past six years and the reason why the previous government fell nine months ago.

Despite this and Nasrallah's show of defiance, senior defence officials in Israel do not believe that Hizbollah will try to take advantage of these developments to launch an attack on Israel.