Israel Ends Its Lebanese Air Embargo; Seas May Be Next

A passenger plane swept over downtown Beirut and sliced along the Mediterranean coast Thursday afternoon, a triumphant flourish that marked the end of the Israeli air blockade that has isolated Lebanon for weeks.

But a sea blockade remained in force. Israel vowed to keep control of its neighbor’s waters until the Lebanese military and international forces were in place to prevent sea-based weapons smuggling.

The Middle East Airlines flight from Paris landed at Beirut’s airport minutes after Israel relinquished its hold on Lebanon’s skies. A land, sea and air blockade had continued to hammer the nation’s floundering economy for the last three weeks, even after a U.N.-brokered cease-fire agreement put a stop to this summer’s fighting between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah.

In a televised address, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said Israel would relinquish control over Lebanese waters today. There was a last-minute complication with the United Nations, he said.

“Be sure the embargo will be lifted,” Siniora said. “It’s a small problem at night, and I think that in the morning, God willing, this thing will be lifted.”

Lebanon had appealed to the U.N. for help monitoring its seas, and Italian and French vessels were expected to begin patrolling them this week, and to watch the coast until German forces could take over.

Israel lifted the air embargo because the Lebanese army and international forces were “ready to effectively prevent illicit weapons shipments coming to Hezbollah,” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.

“At the seaports and at sea, unfortunately, there’s a situation whereby you don’t have a presence of Lebanese or international forces to successfully enforce the arms embargo,” Regev said. “The minute they are ready ... we will be able to lift the sea restrictions.”

Earlier, Israeli officials speaking on condition of anonymity were quoted as saying they hoped to lift the naval blockade within 48 hours. Later, they said it would depend on how quickly the international force and the Lebanese army could secure the coastline.

“From our point of view, the sooner the better,” Regev said.

The easing of the embargo without tangible gains to Israel frustrated the families of two Israeli soldiers who were seized July 12 in a cross-border raid by Hezbollah, the incident that ignited the conflict.

Their well-publicized disappointment could magnify the political problems of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, whose government is already the target of heavy criticism for its handling of the war.

“If lifting the blockade was indeed so important to Lebanon, what is their problem with giving us a sign of life in return?” Shlomo Goldwasser, the father of missing soldier Ehud Goldwasser, asked on Army Radio. “What is so difficult?”

No proof has been given that reservists Goldwasser and Eldad Regev are alive.

Olmert had promised indirectly that the embargo would not end until the soldiers were freed. His office said in a statement hours before the easing of the blockade that Israel was under heavy international pressure to pull back in order to help with the reconstruction of Lebanon.

megan.stack@latimes.com

king@latimes.com

Stack reported from Beirut and King from Jerusalem.