"Press unconvinced by Mid-East truce," BBC Monitoring, August 14, 2006.

As the Middle East ceasefire begins, a Lebanese newspaper hopes not to wake up to "the shelling of cannons and rockets", while an Israeli daily warns that Israel may have to "fill the gap by force" if it sees Syria supporting Hezbollah from across the border.

Papers further afield doubt whether Israel will observe the UN resolution calling for the withdrawal of its forces from Lebanon, in what one Iranian paper calls an "unquestionable" victory for Hezbollah.

GHASSAN TUWAYNI IN LEBANON'S AL-NAHAR

We hope that we do not wake up today to the shelling of cannons and rockets, as if the Lebanese-Palestinian sky has turned into a tennis or football playground where increasing competitors exchange bombs and rockets to score points.


LEBANON'S THE DAILY STAR

The coming months will require considerable adaptation on the part of the political class... They can learn a lot from Hezbollah's professional and serious approach - whether in politics, warfare or organisation... Resolution 1701 is far from perfect... However, it does leave ample room for the Lebanese to begin laying the groundwork for a new - but homegrown - Middle East.


TALAL SULAYMAN IN LEBANON'S AL-SAFIR

Let's agree that Lebanon has not been defeated... Let's agree that we have not verified that the Israeli enemy will actually abide by Resolution 1701... Let's agree that the resistance weapon belongs to the whole homeland. It has been only used in confronting Israeli occupation. It has never been used in local political competition. Hezbollah has never brandished it against those it considers its opponents or rivals.


ISRAEL'S YEDIOT AHRONOT

The first round is over. Now it is clear to us that we are fighting against Hamas and the Palestinians, against Hezbollah, Lebanon, Syria and Iran. This is a hard, dangerous coalition that lies in wait for us in the coming few years.


AMIR OREN IN ISRAEL'S HAARETZ

What should [IDF soldiers and officers] do if they see an armed Hezbollah fighter? Should they shoot him or wait for him to shoot first?


ISRAEL'S JERUSALEM POST

The international community needs to understand that Israel will not repeat the mistake of standing by as Hezbollah rebuilds an arsenal of missiles and other sophisticated weaponry that can threaten us. If the Syrian-Lebanese border is too porous to seal, then either Israel has to do its best to fill the gap by force, or the UN Security Council has to enforce its resolution with sanctions against Syria and, if Tehran is also involved, Iran.


IRAN'S RESALAT

The Zionist regime has never accepted any UN resolutions so far but it desperately needs UN Resolution 1701 to breathe easily again. Hezbollah's victory in the war is absolutely unquestionable.


ABD-AL-BARI ATWAN IN PAN-ARAB AL-QUDS AL-ARABI

This will enter history as it registers Israel's first acceptance of a UN resolution from a defeated position and not a victorious one... It will not be easy for the USA and Israel to accept defeat, and lick their wounds, as experience has taught us... They will wreak revenge on Lebanon and its people in a different way.


MEDIA INDONESIA

If the resolution is effective, that is, the ceasefire holds, the world may smile because it turns out that the UN still exists and is useful. On the other hand, for pessimists the resolution is meaningless. Many doubt that Israel would observe the UN resolution.


UTUSAN MALAYSIA

We trust the promise of Hezbollah's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to observe the ceasefire... It is unfortunate for the world that the Tel Aviv regime does not bother about the lives of other people who it regards as enemies.


ABD-AL-FATTAH AWAD IN SYRIA'S AL-THAWRAH

This victory buried the new Middle East project... This is a US defeat... This is the right moment to talk about the need for Israel to abide by all UN resolutions and withdraw from occupied territories. The international community is responsible for forcing Israel to abide by international law.


YEVGENIY SATANOVSKIY IN RUSSIA'S IZVESTIYA

Iran, an Islamic democracy, is becoming a regional superpower with even bigger ambitions and claims. Much greater claims. We are witnessing the birth of a new theocratic parliamentary Islamic empire. The war in Lebanon is the first war of the empire.


THE AUSTRALIAN

Given Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinezhad's apocalyptic tendencies... it would not be wise to put too much stock in the current ceasefire as a long-term solution to problems in the Middle East... If the Iranian leader was a fraction of the reasonable man he now professes to be, he would call off his dogs in southern Lebanon.


LI XUEJIANG IN CHINA'S RENMIN WANG

The UN Security Council actually could not secure any achievements because of US obstruction... So were there really no winners? Not exactly - US arms dealers certainly made ill-gotten gains.

BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad.



RELATED INTERNET LINKS
Al-Nahar (Lebanon)
http://www.annahar.com.lb/

Daily Star (Lebanon)
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/

Al-Safir (Lebanon)
http://www.assafir.com/

Yediot Aharonot (Israel)
http://www.ynetnews.com/home/0,7340,L-3083,00.html

Haaretz (Israel)
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/

Jerusalem Post (Israel)
http://www.jpost.com/

Resalat (Iran)
http://www.resalat-news.com/

Al-Quds Al-Arabi (Pan-Arab)
http://www.alquds.co.uk/

Media Indonesia (Indonesia)
http://www.mediaindo.co.id/

Utusan Malaysia (Malaysia)
http://www.utusan.com.my/

Al-Thawrah (Syria)
http://www.thawra.com/

Izvestiya (Russia)
http://www.izvestia.ru/

The Australian (Australia)
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/

Renmin Wang (China)
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/
Recommend this Post

Sphere: Related Content