Initial Reactions
Leaders around the world praised the agreement, while noting this was not the end of the crisis. The Lebanese cabinet voted unanimously to accept the terms on 12 August. Nasrallah, in a speech televised on Hezbollah's Al-Manar television on 12 August, said: "We will not be an obstacle to any decision taken by the Lebanese government".
The Israeli government accepted the terms on 13 August, but did not cease offensive actions until its deadline at 8:00 a.m. (local time) 14 August. On 13 August, Israel advanced to capture as much high-ground territory as possible before the ceasefire, and bombed targets up to 15 minutes before the deadline. Hezbollah also continued what they called "defensive operations," and vowed not to cease their operations as long as Israel occupies Lebanon. Hezbollah launched 250 rockets into Israel, the most since the war began. Hezbollah and the IDF fought the fiercest engagements of the conflict; 32 Israeli soldiers were killed, but Hezbollah did not release any casualty numbers.
The French government criticized the rules of engagement. "I remember the unhappy experiences of other operations where UN forces had neither a sufficiently precise mission nor the means to act," French Defence Minister, Michèle Alliot-Marie, said. "You cannot send out men and tell them that they should watch what's happening but that they have no right to defend themselves or fire."
Read more about this topic: United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701
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