BEIRUT, Lebanon, May 20 (UPI) -- Israel is wrong to think that destroying Lebanese infrastructure would force Beirut to abandon the concept of a strong state, Lebanese ministers said Thursday.
Ghazi Aridi, the Lebanese minister of public works from the Progressive Socialist Party, inaugurated Thursday a bridge linking Beirut highways to northern Lebanon.
Aridi hailed the reconstruction project as a sign of Lebanese national strength, noting the bridge was left in shambles following the 34-day conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.
The minister said during his speech at the inauguration that the Israelis were wrong to think that destroying Lebanese infrastructure would make Beirut bend to its will, Lebanon's National News Agency reports.
Israeli tensions with Lebanon resurfaced in 2009 following a series of border exchanges. Israel accused Hezbollah of amassing weapons along the southern border, while Beirut complained Israel was conducting military flights over its territory.
Tensions are strained further by recent allegations from Israeli officials that Syria had transferred long-range Scud missiles to Hezbollah.
French defense ministers and U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon said they have no evidence to back the Israeli claims.
