Lebanon Calls on the UN Security Council to Condemn Israeli Attacks

Lebanon Calls on the UN Security Council to Condemn Israeli Attacks
September 21, 2024, 2:18 pm

عبد الله بوحبيب .. وزير الخارجية اللبناني

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib called on the United Nations Security Council on Friday to clearly and explicitly condemn the "terrorist" Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

This statement was made during his speech at the Security Council session held in New York at Algeria's request to discuss the recent developments in Lebanon.

In his speech, Bou Habib said, "We are here today not only to defend Lebanon and its innocent victims, but to preserve our collective humanity," as reported by the Lebanese National News Agency. He urged the council to "clearly condemn the terrorist Israeli attacks," calling on council members to "stand on the right side of history and defend justice and peace."

Bou Habib further stressed, "Either this council obliges Israel to stop its aggression and implement resolutions 1701 and 2735, ending its war on all fronts and ensuring the return of displaced people to their countries, or we will be witnesses to a major explosion."

He added, "I have raised my voice from this platform before, and I repeat it for the third time: Give peace a chance... Give peace a chance... before it's too late."

Earlier on Friday, Lebanon reported that 14 people were killed and 66 others injured, including a large number of children and women, in an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut, according to preliminary figures from the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

The Israeli army, in a statement, said that the airstrike targeted a senior military commander of Hezbollah, Ibrahim Aqil, along with other leaders whose names were not disclosed.

In a subsequent statement, Hezbollah confirmed Aqil's assassination but did not provide details about the deaths of other leaders during the airstrike.

This escalation comes amid a "new wave" of Israeli attacks on Lebanon, with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announcing on Thursday evening that the war with Hezbollah had entered a new phase.

The military operations in Lebanon intensified with the detonation of communication devices across the country on Tuesday and Wednesday, resulting in the deaths of 37 people and more than 3,250 injuries. This was accompanied by escalating Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon and other towns, culminating in the targeting of the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Since October 8, Lebanese and Palestinian factions in Lebanon, primarily Hezbollah, have been engaged in daily exchanges of fire with the Israeli army along the "Blue Line," leading to hundreds of casualties, most of them on the Lebanese side.

These factions are demanding an end to the war that Israel, with U.S. support, has been waging on the Gaza Strip since October 7. This war has resulted in over 136,000 Palestinian casualties, most of them children and women, as well as more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and a severe humanitarian crisis.

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