The UN Security Council held an emergency session on Lebanon after an increase in cross-border firing between Hezbollah and Israeli forces and explosions of deadly wireless devices targeting members of the militant group.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacekeeping Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo said on Friday that worrying developments in Lebanon and the region have emerged after nearly a year of daily hostilities along the Blue Line (the buffer zone separating Israel and Lebanon), according to news agency Xinhua.
“These exchanges constitute a repeated violation of the directive to cessate hostilities and a breach of (Security Council) resolution 1701,” he said.
Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said, “Through this terrorist aggression, Israel has violated the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law… and indiscriminately targeted civilians.”
Describing Israel as “a rogue state”, he called on the Council to condemn recent attacks, implement resolution 1701 and stand on the right side of history.
He asked, “Isn’t it terrorism when you target an entire population when they are busy going about their daily lives and not fighting on the front?”
Speaking on behalf of the Arab group, Syria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Kousse Aldahhak, said the recent devastating attacks were carried out without regard for international law or humanity.
He said the Arab group calls on the Security Council to condemn this cyber terrorism and Israel’s aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza and attacks on other countries, including Syria.
In his national capacity, Aldahhak said Syria condemns the aggression and ongoing terrorism against the Lebanese people.
Samuel Zbogar of Slovenia, speaking in his national capacity as President of the Security Council for the month of September, said, “We are entering a new dangerous area and, as new technologies are used and developed, we stress the need to respect existing legal obligations.”
He called on the Security Council to take action before the situation in the region spirals out of control, stressing that diplomacy is the only way forward.
Israel’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said his country did not want war. He said that on 8 October, while Israeli civilians in the south were being “slaughtered” by Hamas, Hezbollah “fired hundreds of rockets” at civilians in the north.
He said more than 8,000 rockets have “rained” on Israel since then, killing 46 people and wounding 294 others. Danon said Israel’s aim is to “restore security on our northern borders” and “bring our people back home.”
“We are deeply concerned by the escalation of tensions along the Blue Line, including the deadly attack in Beirut today,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said at the daily briefing.
He urged all parties to immediately de-escalate tensions, exercise “maximum restraint” and “immediately return to a cessation of hostilities and the full implementation of Security Council resolution 1701”.
He warned that the region was “on the brink of disaster” and all efforts should be focused on finding a diplomatic solution.
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