Hizbullah Braces to Confront Major Israeli Offensive Against Lebanon

Hizbullah has taken 'vast military and security measures' along Lebanon's border with Israel, reinforcing Party of God's frontlines and rear positions in anticipation of a large-scale Israeli offensive to cover up the withdrawal from the Gaza strip, An Nahar reported on Tuesday. The Hizbullah border movements were noticed over the past two days, An Nahar said. That followed the return of Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah from a 5-day visit to Tehran armed with a 'carte blanche' support from Iran's new regime of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Nasrallah had warned before making the Tehran trip that Israel was likely to mount a large-scale military attack against Lebanon to shift attention off the Gaza disengagement operation. Israel, in turn, has put its air force on maximum alert, claiming Hizbullah might stage hit-and-run attacks against northern Jewish settlements once the Gaza pullout begins at mid-August. Hizbullah made it plain on Monday that it won't allow the Lebanese army to advance onto frontline positions on the border with Israel, defying a thinly veiled U.N. threat to withdraw the international peacekeeping force from South Lebanon unless the Lebanese army takes over the borderline from Hizbullah by Jan. 31, 2006.