Six months after the United Nations-brokered cessation of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel began, Hezbollah continues to launch into diatribes against Israel.

During a January 30 speech delivered in Beirut, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah proclaimed, “The future of Israel is death, and the future of this umma (Islamic nation) is life.”

Nasrallah also admitted in an interview in the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai Al-Aam that Hezbollah receives Iranian arms.  Hezbollah later denied that Nasrallah made such a claim in a statement on its television station, Al-Manar.

In early February, Hezbollah supporters paraded along the Israel-Lebanon border with flags and large photographs of Nasrallah. One Hezbollah supported allegedly said, “Look, we want the Israeli patrols to see clearly our flags and banners to remind them that, if you think one day of violating the Lebanese territory, we will be waiting for you.”

The Hezbollah parade was apparently intended to send a message to the international peace keeping force, which – consistent with the terms of the August 14 ceasefire, UN Resolution 1701 – is tasked with keeping Hezbollah from the border. “No one can keep Hezbollah away from this area because we own this land,” said one Hezbollah supporter.

United Nations Resolution 1701 calls on the Lebanese government to secure its borders, prevent the import of any weapons not authorized by the government, and to dismantle any illegal militias operating in its territory. The resolution also calls for Hezbollah to release the two Israeli soldiers it kidnapped and has been holding since July.