The MEMRI Blog has a translated report from a Lebanese daily about Hizballah’s plans for the next escalation in their push to take over Lebanon; rather than start something in Beirut, where they would risk serious conflict with government forces, the terror gang is doing what it always does—going after the soft targets.

In this case, that would be the United Nations “peacekeepers.”

The Lebanese daily Al-Mustaqbal has published an article quoting political elements as saying that apparently the escalation that Hizbullah is threatening to carry out in the near future will not be in Beirut but in the south of the country, in the form of harassment of UNIFIL. The sources said that the opposition leaders, including Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and his deputy Na’im Qasim, had already raised doubts about the roles being played by UNIFIL, and Hizbullah had recently begun to say that they were exceeding their designated function. The article said that Hizbullah forces were closely monitoring UNIFIL to learn about their scope, location, and logistical activity; the information gleaned is to be used as incitement or as preparation for activity.

The sources predicted that in the coming days, the campaign of raising doubts about UNIFIL would be stepped up, and by Hizbullah’s political allies as well, in advance of striking them on the ground.

Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Lebanon, January 18, 2007

Watch for Reuters and AP reports in the near future to start “raising doubts” about UNIFIL.

UPDATE at 1/19/07 2:56:07 pm:

The first such report comes from the Canadian Press: South Lebanon villagers have minor confrontation with UN peacekeepers.

BEIRUT (AP) - Spanish peacekeepers policing the Israeli-Hezbollah ceasefire took up combat positions after angry residents confronted them over their presence in a southern Lebanese village, a newspaper reported Thursday.

A spokesman for the peacekeepers said there were no clashes and no one was hurt in the incident Wednesday in Zaoutar, just north of the Litani River.

But the dispute highlighted the tension in southern Lebanon, five months after a UN-brokered ceasefire halted 34 days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. The Shiite Muslim guerrilla group has warned the peacekeepers about overstepping their mandate.