The recent attack on a U.S. diplomatic target in Lebanon is one in a series of terrorist attacks meant to undermine the government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and threaten to further destabilize the country.  With support from Syria and Iran, Hizballah and other terrorist groups continue to rearm and carry out attacks against Israel, U.N. peacekeepers and supporters of Lebanese democracy. Further action by the international community is necessary to ensure Hizballah is disarmed and is not allowed to undermine Lebanon's democratic government or spark renewed conflict with Israel.

Hizballah, with Iranian and Syrian support, continues to rearm and poses a threat to Israel's security.

• With extensive support from Iran and Syria, Hizballah restored and enhanced its arsenal of rockets and sophisticated anti-tank guided missiles to levels not seen since before the war with Israel in 2006. Hizballah has 10,000 to 20,000 short-range rockets, according to Israeli security officials.
  
  
• From its positions north of the Litani River, Hizballah is able to strike Tel Aviv and points further south using its newly acquired Iranian Fateh 110 missiles, which have a range of 150 miles, according to Lebanese and Israeli intelligence officials.
  
  
• Tehran provides financial and military support to Hizballah, promising the terrorist group an "unlimited budget" in order to rebuild its military wing with the aid of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). This year, Hizballah more than doubled its budget from $400 million to $1 billion.
  
  
• Hizballah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah continues to make threatening statements against Israel, boasting that "Israel will suffer an even greater defeat than that which was suffered during that July, because Hizballah today has become stronger, braver, and more experienced."

Hizballah and other Lebanese-based terrorist have carried out attacks on U.S. targets, Israel, U.N peacekeepers and their political opponents.

• Terrorists targeted a U.S. embassy vehicle in Beirut on January 15, killing three civilians and injuring 16 people, including an American. This was the first direct attack on American interests in Lebanon since the 1984 bombing near the U.S. embassy, which killed two Americans and wounded the U.S. ambassador.
  
  
• Early this month, terrorists launched two rocket attacks on Israel from territory under the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon's (UNIFIL) jurisdiction. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called these attacks "a serious violation of Security Council Resolution 1701," and the United Nation's Security Council expressed "firm condemnation of any breach of the cessation of hostilities."
  
  
• Terrorist groups are also targeting UNIFIL and have carried out three successful attacks since last summer's war between Israel and Hizballah. Two UNIFIL peacekeepers were injured on Jan. 8 by a roadside bomb on the coastal highway near Sidon.
  
  
• Hizballah and its Syrian allies have been implicated in the wave of political assassinations that have targeted anti-Syrian and pro-democracy politicians, journalists and military officials. Lebanese army officials believe that the level of sophistication of the attacks points to assistance from Syrian intelligence personnel.

Syria, Hizballah, and their allies are exacerbating the continued political stalemate in Lebanon and hampering efforts to enforce U.N. resolutions.

• Hizballah continues to block the election of a president and to undermine Lebanon's democratic institutions by demanding a veto-wielding number of cabinet seats in the government.
  
  
• Although Syria has endorsed the Arab League initiative to elect Gen. Michel Sulieman as president and divide the cabinet seats so that no one party has a majority, Damascus has refused to encourage its allies to accept a compromise.
  
  
• Parliamentary Speaker and Hizballah ally Nabih Berri postponed the presidential election for the 13th  time on January 20, preventing parliament from convening and electing Sulieman. Hizballah ministers also refuse to show up to parliamentary sessions, thereby preventing the necessary quorum to elect a president.
  
  
• The United Nations reports that the political crisis is prohibiting implementation of U.N. Security Council resolution 1559, which calls for the Lebanese government to exercise full sovereignty over the Lebanese-Syrian border and to exert its monopoly on the use of force.

The international community should take further action to ensure Hizballah is disarmed and Lebanon's democratic government is not undermined.

• The mandate of U.N. forces in Lebanon should be expanded to allow monitoring of the Lebanese-Syrian border in order to prevent Iran and Syria from rearming Hizballah.  The mandate should also be expanded to allow patrols in areas north of the Litani River where Hizballah has rearmed.
  
  
• The United States should hold Syria and Iran accountable for violating Resolution 1701's arms embargo against Hizballah by bringing the full force of U.S. sanctions to bear against both nations.  Foreign companies continuing to conduct business with the IRGC should be sanctioned.
  
  
• The international community should continue to support the forces of democracy in Lebanon and not allow Hizballah or Syria to prevent the election of a Lebanese president.  Those responsible for the series of political assassination in Lebanon should be brought to justice.