JERUSALEM (JTA) — The cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon is in a fragile state, a United Nations report says.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his annual report on the implementation of the Security Council-brokered cease-fire following the 2006 Second Lebanon War, says hostilities could escalate again over several unresolved issues. The report was submitted Tuesday to the Security Council.
Among the issues causing unrest between the two countries are Lebanese allegations that Israel is operating several spy rings in the country, according to reports.
Security Council Resolution 1701 put the long-term cease-fire into effect. Under the resolution, the power of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon was strengthened and extended.
Meanwhile, a Lebanese army colonel suspected of spying for Israel escaped into the Jewish state last week, Reuters reported Tuesday. He was among 50 people, including two other army colonels, detained during an investigation into Israeli spy rings in Lebanon.
"If these allegations are proved to be true, they could endanger the fragile cessation of hostilities that exists," Ban said in his report.
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