Hassan Nasrallah’s televised speech of 4 August (.pdf), translated by Anarchistian of Blogging the Middle East, who reported this yesterday:
Nasrallah’s latest speech was interesting to say the least. The most important component was the question of what will happen to all those who have lost their houses throughout the country; he said that repair and rebuilding will begin as of tomorrow, and he called on Lebanese youth to volunteer to take part in the rebuilding, which will be totally funded by HezbAllah. He also said that while the rebuilding goes on, HezbAllah will pay the rent of one year for ALL those who have lost their homes, and also give money for people to buy furniture; once the rebuilding is finished, renovated/rebuilt housing units will be distributed to all those who lost them.
Residents have already been rushing to their homes to check up on the damage. Rescue workers have started to clear the rubble especially in the southern suburbs of Beirut and residents in various parts of the country have been cleaning up the streets.
As’ad AbuKhalil posts what appears to be a final letter from Hanady Salman (managing editor at As-Safir in Beirut) who has been providing first-hand accounts of the devastation of Lebanon throughout the siege. She describes what awaits those returning to southern Lebanon since the cease fire went into effect and the struggle that lies ahead.
As Lebanese refugees streamed home, Israeli warplanes dropped leaflets over southern Lebanon, warning residents to stay out of the area until Lebanese and international troops are deployed, saying “the situation will remain dangerous” until such time. In Jerusalem, Israeli military officials said they plan to begin handing over some captured positions to UN personnel on Wednesday and hope to complete the withdrawal from Lebanon by next week.
The following report has generated a lot of feedback. An astute member of this group points out that whilst stealing from merchants is an outrage, Mizrahi’s comment about soldiers remaining in Lebanon during the winter is even more disturbing:
Last update – 00:13 15/08/2006
IDF general: Troops lacking food can steal from Lebanese stores
By Haaretz Service
“If our fighters deep in Lebanese territory are left without food our water, I believe they can break into local Lebanese stores to solve that problem,” Brigadier General Avi Mizrahi, the head of the Israel Defense Forces logistics branch, said Monday.
Mizrahi’s comments followed complaints by IDF soldiers regarding the lack of food on the front lines.
“If what they need to do is take water from the stores, they can take,” Mizrahi told Army Radio.
According to Mizrahi, the logistics branch is prepared for the possibility that combat soldiers will have to remain in Lebanon during the winter.