JERUSALEM (AFP) — Syria is supplying Lebanon's Hezbollah militia with rockets in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak charged on Tuesday.
"Resolution 1701 is not being applied. The transfer of rockets from Syria to Lebanon is continuing and Hezbollah's military build-up is continuing," Barak's office quoted him as saying during a visit to an air force base.
"I think the Security Council has to act and see how the resolution is applied and enforced," the former army chief of staff and premier said.
The resolution, which put an end to a 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in August 2006, demanded the pullout of the Israeli army from south Lebanon and its replacement by a UN-backed Lebanese army deployment.
It also called for the disarming of all militias -- an allusion to Hezbollah as well as to Palestinian militant groups -- and the prevention of illegal arms sales and smuggling operations in Lebanon.
Barak said the Israeli army was building up its forces in the wake of the Second Lebanon War, which revealed severe shortcomings in its conduct and readiness and was largely perceived in Israel as a failure.
"We are building up a strong IDF (army) which, unlike the Second Lebanon War, will bring decisive and clear results in war, if one is forced upon us," he said.
"Restoring the army's deterrence and commanding abilities are quintessential goals for the army," he added.
Israel launched a massive offensive after the July 12, 2006 capture of two soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid by Hezbollah.
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