Haaretz' crawl is saying Hezbollah has approved this plan.NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- An Israeli government official on Monday cautiously welcomed the Lebanese government's plans to send 15,000 soldiers to southern Lebanon as soon as Israeli troops withdraw.
"This in principle is something we embrace and support," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev told CNN. "The proof of the pudding is in the eating. I'd want to know the rules of engagement. Is the Lebanese army going to follow through and start to disarm Hezbollah?"
Earlier in the day, the Lebanese army called up reserve soldiers in a move linked to the possible deployment on the border if a cease-fire agreement is reach to end more than four weeks of fighting between Hezbollah guerrillas and Israeli forces.
Regev noted that the Israelis had been calling for the deployment of Lebanese troops in the southern part of the country, along the border with Israel, for years. "Up until now, when you went to the northern part of Israel and you looked north, you didn't see Lebanese army or flags - you saw Hezbollah flags and military formations," he said.
NASDAQ