The Hizbullah terrorist group slammed the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Tuesday night for its intention to rescue any Israel Air Force pilot whose aircraft is shot down over Lebanon.

According to a report published by the Lebanese daily newspaper al-Akhbar, UN forces Commander Claudio Graziano distributed to his troops a contingency plan in which UNIFIL soldiers would aim to reach the pilot before the terrorists could get to him.  Failing that, if the pilot is captured by guerrilla forces, Plan B is an attempt to rescue him from Hizbullah's hands.

However, if the pilot is being held by the Lebanese Army, according to the plan, UNIFIL would do nothing.

Hizbullah spokesmen appeared on the terrorist-linked Al-Manar television station Tuesday evening to denounce the plan and the United Nations peacekeeping force, despite UNIFIL’s denial of the report.

Nevertheless, UNIFIL underscored its commitment to UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which requires the force to protect foreign soldiers in Lebanon. UNIFIL also stated that it would turn over custody of any foreign soldier that entered the country to the Lebanese Army.

Lebanon’s government approved on Monday “the right of Lebanon, its people, its army and the resistance to liberate its land in the Sheba’a Farms, Kfarshuba Hill and Ghajar.” The cabinet vote allows Hizbullah (referred to as “the resistance”) to keep its weapons arsenal and to continue its terrorist activities against Israel.

IAF navigator Ron Arad has been missing in action since his aircraft was shot down over Lebanon in 1986. Although the Hizbullah terrorist organization promised to provide information about his fate, in its 80-page report submitted during the swap for the bodies of kidnapped and murdered IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, the group said only that it believed Arad was dead -- without providing documentation as to the circumstances of his death, or the location of his grave. Due to the uncertainty over his status, Ron Arad's wife has never been able to remarry.