Israel has claimed, by way of a formal complaint to the United Nations on Monday, that Hizbullah is slowly re-exerting its control in Southern Lebanon by undermining the UN peacekeepers' mandate there. The Iran-backed terrorist organization has responded with charges that Israel is preparing to attack it.

In a letter written to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the president of the Security Council, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gabriella Shalev noted recent events in southern Lebanon which reflect the re-arming of Hizbullah terrorists and resistance to enforcement of Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

"All of these flagrant violations of resolution 1701 - inter alia, the arms smuggling and the obstruction of movement of UNIFIL forces - must be denounced and addressed in clear and unambiguous terms by the international community. Unfortunately, such obstruction is not an isolated incident and reflects a pattern in which Hizbullah uses various means - including so-called 'civilians' - in order to prevent UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces from fulfilling their mandate," Shalev wrote.

The ambassador made specific reference to an incident last Tuesday in which residents of the southern Lebanese village of Khirbet Selm prevented the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) from inspecting a Hizbullah weapons warehouse after a number of the explosives stored there were detonated. The main road into the area was blocked with burning tires, and UNIFIL troops were greeted with rocks and physical resistance.

Lebanese officials said that an investigation into the incidents, both the explosion and the village blockade, was underway. However, the Lebanese daily As-Safir reported this week that the Lebanese army has already informed UNIFIL that the peacekeepers' actions were a violation of the Lebanese army's jurisdiction. According to the report, Lebanon told UNIFIL that it had no right to unilaterally enter an inhabited residence.

In her letter to the UN, Ambassador Shalev also specifically cited the failure of UNIFIL to stop last weekend's crossing of the Israeli border by a group of 15 unarmed adults and children. The group planted Hizbullah flags on vacant Israeli positions.

Nasrallah: 'Israel is Preparing for War'

Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah used a videotaped address on Monday to repeat his claim that Israel is preparing for an invasion of Lebanon to wipe out his terrorist organization.

In an earlier interview with Hizbullah's Al-Manar television station, Nasrallah claimed that Israel has been violating the truce from the 2006 Second Lebanon War day and night. The Shiite leader also accused Israel of carrying out maneuvers intended to exercise control over Lebanon.

"[Israel is] speaking of war that will eradicate the resistance from the Lebanese territories," Nasrallah said, referring to Hizbullah. He called on Lebanon as a whole to "embrace the resistance and the culture of resistance."

Dismissing recent political conflicts between Israel and the United States as mere "theater", Nasrallah said that Israel is merely a tool of the U.S. to destabilize the Arab and Islamic worlds. Therefore, Israel's policies are an extension of those of the Americans, regardless of apparent disagreements.

Nasrallah also discounted the Arab states as independent actors. "Just after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for courageous moves by the Arabs, we saw some Arab officials calling for openness to Israeli media and to the so-called Israeli nation," Nasrallah said.