No sooner did the Lebanese breathe a sigh of relief that this devastating war was over than Hizbollah started defying international calls for it to disarm.

Let's not forget Hizbollah started this war when its militants launched an unprovoked cross-border raid into Israel last month, killing several Israeli soldiers and kidnapping two others.

Because Hizbollah militants often use civilians as cover and even hide rocket launchers and arms caches in densely populated areas, Israeli military operations against Hizbollah inevitably resulted in heavy civilian casualties.

For this, Israel was subjected to tremendous international pressure to stop the fighting before it could crush the militant Shi'ite group, which denies the Jewish state's right to exist.

The cease-fire was hailed by some as a victory for Hizbollah, in that they were able to resist Israel's might, supposedly enhancing the prestige of this militant group among Arabs angered by the high civilian death toll.

But few have bothered to ask the Lebanese government or the majority of peace-loving Lebanese citizens, whether they wanted this war - started for them by Hizbollah - in the first place.

Now the international community is planning to ensure peace by trying to secure the Lebanese border with Israel through the creation of a buffer zone in southern Lebanon that will be policed by Lebanese government troops, backed up by international forces. However, both Lebanese government troops and international forces have balked at the prospect of being asked to use force to disarm the formidable Shi'ite militia.

Everybody knows that Hizbollah is not going to disappear simply because the UN Security Council decided to pass a new resolution. It is just as evident that a failure on the part of the UN to disarm Hizbollah this time round will compel Israel to resume military operations in Lebanon.

What is the international community to do?

Much has been made about Hizbollah being very much a part of Lebanon's national political scene. It is pointed out that Hizbollah is popular among Shi'ites, who make up almost half of Lebanon's population and are currently part of the Lebanese coalition government. Never mind that it has a private army that is stronger than the country's armed forces or that its core ideology involves the destruction of Israel.

It may be true Hizbollah is genuinely popular among Shi'ites because of the charitable work it does. But then Hizbollah has never allowed anyone else to do charitable work for Shi'ite people - they remain its captive clients. Hizbollah monopolises charitable works for Shi'ites, and the group is able to intimidate Lebanese society - this is not to mention its role as a proxy for Syria and Iran in waging war on Israel, which further undermines Lebanon's independence and fledgling democracy.

Hizbollah's status as a state within a state must not be allowed to continue. The group must be asked to disarm and participate in Lebanon's national politics as one political party competing against others on an equal footing.

The UN must back up its resolution with a credible fighting force, in order to ensure that the desire of the international community for genuine peace in the Middle East is realised. The key question is whether the international community has the political will to back up its eloquent rhetoric about lasting peace with the combat-ready troops required to make it happen.