Israeli forces advance further into Lebanon

There is another way to combat Hezbollah, writes Susanne Knaul, the taz’s former Middle East correspondent:

“Israel has allies in Beirut in the fight against Hezbollah. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam would be only too happy to secure the state’s sovereignty by disarming the terrorist militia and then resume the recently initiated peace negotiations with Israel. Similarly, President Joseph Aoun, himself a former commander-in-chief of the Lebanese Armed Forces, announced upon taking office last year that the state should have a monopoly on the use of weapons. The Lebanese Army should be enabled to take on this mission. It must be equipped and trained so that it has a chance of negotiating the terms of disarmament with Hezbollah on an equal footing.”