Position of Lebanon in the 2006 Lebanon War had made comments on television saying that Israel should consider a prisoner exchange with Hezbollah. On 13 July, a prominent Lebanese Druze member of parliament, Walid Jumblatt, criticized Hezbollah in an interview with the French daily "Le Figaro": "Hezbollah played a very dangerous game by kidnapping these two soldiers. ... Israel has withdrawn from Lebanon. These kidnappings took place outside our country's borders. Hezbollah is raising the stakes, with the support of Iran and Syria, which in the past year has become a satellite state of Tehran. … Hezbollah will have to explain itself to the Lebanese. ... [We need
PLO in Lebanon support of the Palestinian cause. The US was less positive in response to PLO and at one time favoured a policy of isolating the Palestinians, which clearly did not work. Charlie Wilson, the U.S. congressman responsible for raising funds in order to assist Afghan mujahideen to fight the Soviets, commented that he felt the Israeli forces were welcomed as a liberation army and that PLO's presence was worth even the tumult of the Israeli invasion. Whilst in Lebanon, PLO were able to mount several attacks on Israel from vantage points along the border. The time in Lebanon also afforded PLO