A leading militant Islamic figure yesterday called on Palestinians displaced by the Israelis and living in exile in Lebanon to restart their Intifada war against Israel.
Sheikh Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Hizbullah movement which has just fought a successful 20-year campaign for Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon, yesterday said Palestinians should not settle for a "little piece of land" in the Israeli state.
He was speaking at a huge rally organised to celebrate the Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon after an occupation lasting from 1978 and costing tens of thousands of deaths.
The Hizbullah rally, the largest seen in this area according to local people, was held in a stadium in the town of Bint Jbeil which only six days ago was under Israeli control. The town has a largely Muslim population and is less than 3 km from the Israeli border.
Any kind of pro-Islamic rally would have been unthinkable here up to this week.
The Israeli withdrawal has been followed by an influx of Hizbullah fighters into the area and yesterday's rally was surrounded by a heavy military presence. However, Lebanese government gendarmes were also in the area in large numbers, working alongside the Hizbullah guerrillas.
In his address, Sheikh Nasrallah said the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon should be an encouragement to Palestinians as Israel was now "afraid". Addressing his remarks to Lebanon's hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians, he said: "You should not be satisfied with a small piece of land, a village here and a village there. You can return to your land through your own efforts. Ignore the rest of the world. The only way you will see Palestine liberated is if you take up your Intifada. A strong Intifada is the only way you can put pressure on the invaders and liberate your land."
Sheikh Nasrallah said the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, fulfilling last year's election promise by the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, was won by Hizbullah with the support of other Islamic groups as well as the Iranian and Syrian governments.
The Iranian Foreign Minister, Mr Kamal Kharrazi, attended the rally.
He also said the "victory" of the liberation of south Lebanon should be enjoyed by Lebanese of all religions. He called for a united Lebanon "of all religions" - remarks which are being interpreted by UN sources in southern Lebanon as encouraging for the Christian communities living in the south of the country who were associated with the pro-Israeli forces.
The area has been quiet since the last Israeli troops withdrew from here on Tuesday morning.
Hizbullah has also been adhering to a policy of removing weapons from public view in the south of the country in recent days in an attempt to reduce tensions.
Reuters adds:
The UN envoy to the Middle East, Mr Terje Roed-Larsen, said yesterday that Hizbullah should accept an imminent UN ruling on whether Israel had ended its occupation of south Lebanon.
A Hizbullah official said the organisation was ready to fight Israel if it did not withdraw from the disputed Shebaa Farms along the Syrian border.
Mr Roed-Larsen told a news conference that Lebanese leaders had indicated that they would abide by the decision.