Shalev, warns of danger
Photo: Reuters
UN Security Council
Photo: AP
Israel: increase UN efforts in Lebanon
Following recent incidents in south Lebanon, UN Security Council discusses extended UNIFIL's mandate. Israeli Ambassador Shalev warns of continued Hezbollah armament, quotes Secretary-General Ban's letter stating organization violated Resolution 1701
WASHINGTON - In a United Nations Security Council session on whether the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) should be extended, Israel warned against Hezbollah's armament.
Israel's Ambassador to the UN Gabriela Shalev warned that "the terror organization's activity and the ongoing transfer of weapons through the penetrable Syrian-Lebanese border pose a growing threat to regional peace and stability".
Northern Border
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The Security Council is discussing the extension of the UNFIL force's mandate for the third consecutive year since Resolution 1701 was passed and ended the Second Lebanon War in August 2006.
But unlike previous years in which the Security Council automatically approved the extension without mentioning Hezbollah's violations, last month's weapons cache explosion in Khirbet Silim that led to clashes between Hezbollah operatives and UNIFIL troop's caused the council to take a different approach.
Israel has previously claimed that Hezbollah was smuggling weapons into south Lebanon, while the Lebanese government has continued to deny the charge. UNIFIL said that as long as there is no proof, there is nothing to report to the Security Council.
This time, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon can no longer ignore the happenings around the tense border. However, the draft brought before the Security Council for the renewal of the UNIFIL's mandate makes no mention of Hezbollah, but only of the serious incidents that took place in southern Lebanon last month as they appeared in Ban's annual report on Resolution 1701 to the council dated August 6.
Ban's report stated that the weapons cache in question was an active one, unlike the Lebanese government's claims that the incident was the explosion of an old, inactive weapons shed.
'Israel warns of dangerous phenomenon'
"July's events shed a light on the dangerous phenomenon Israel warns of," Shalev told the Security Council. "The Hezbollah terror organization continues to operate both north and south of the Litani River in violation of Resolution 1701 and other relevant Security Council resolutions," she added.
Shalev then quoted Ban's report, which stated that the explosions in Khirbet Silim "were caused by a large amount of weapons and ammunition" in a weapons cache that was "actively maintained", as opposed to Lebanon's written announcement to the UN.
The ambassador also repeated claims in the report that there was Hezbollah presence in the Khirbet Silim area. She said Ban clearly wrote that the presence of property and weapons between the Blue Line and the Litani River is a clear violation of Security Council Resolution 1701 from 2006.
Shalev warned that the aforementioned incidents, as well as the crossing of Hezbollah supporters into Israel, "attest to the Hezbollah terror organization's active presence in south Lebanon. This, along with the ongoing supply of ammunition through the penetrable Syrian-Lebanese border, poses a growing threat to regional peace and stability".
The Israeli ambassador demanded UNIFIL step up its efforts "to ensure that the territory between the Litani and the Blue Line are clean of all armed people, property and weapons, other than those belonging to the Lebanese government and UNIFIL".
