The March 14 camp urged on Thursday the Lebanese people to support the government of Prime Minister Tammam Salam and ask it to take into its own hands the decision of war and peace. Following a meeting, the alliance's general-secretariat called on “the Lebanese people to stand united behind their cabinet, and ask it to defend them and hold onto the decision of war and peace.” “Hezbollah should not control our lives as if we do not exist,” said the conferees a day after an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel occurred. The March 14 statement said that Security Council Resolution 1701, which put an end to the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, had clearly said that the Lebanese government should apply its full sovereignty, so that there will be no arms without its agreement and no authority other than that of the government. Wednesday's clashes “go beyond the argument on the right of Hezbollah to fight inside a disputed area and exceed talk about the United Nations-drawn Blue Line,” said the statement. The Lebanese continue to ask themselves who takes such a decision and whether limiting the use of weapons to the Lebanese Armed Forces and security apparatuses is necessary or not, they noted. The statement said that Lebanon cannot be governed through the balance of power imposed by regional decisions and extra-state arms. Lebanon is ruled by “the law, the Constitution and legitimate institutions,” it concluded. Violence erupted on Wednesday when Lebanese Hezbollah fighters fired a salvo of anti-tank missiles at an Israeli military convoy, killing two soldiers and wounding seven. Israel responded with shelling. A Spanish peacekeeper with the U.N. force in southern Lebanon was killed in the exchange. The area was calm but tense on Thursday and village life appeared to return to normal. But Israeli forces were on high alert and the state-run National News Agency said Israeli warplanes were flying low over border villages.
LBCI/REUTERS