Germany’s parliament has given the go-ahead to send military personnel to Lebanon as part of the UN peacekeeping force.2,400 troops, mainly marines, are to help enforce the ceasefire between Israel and Hizbollah by patrolling the Lebanese coast. The vote in the parliamentary lower house was approved by 442 to 152 votes. It removes the last hurdle to the German deployment which has been a subject of intense debate. Due to the legacy of the Holocaust, the German government has been reluctant to deploy ground troops in the Middle East. The brief for the German marines is to help prevent weapons from from reaching Hizbollah – a condition of the truce insisted upon by Israel.

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