Israel’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Danny Danon, assured the Security Council on Friday that his country “will continue to defend itself” against “provocations” by the Shiite militia party HezbollahThis does not therefore exclude new attacks on Lebanese territory.
“We will not allow Hezbollah to continue its provocations. Their actions violate international law and Israel will defend itself“, he said at Friday’s emergency Security Council meeting, convened after a wave of electronic device explosions this week attributed to the Jewish state.
During the session, Danon accused Lebanon of having “allowed a terrorist organization to create a state (…) within its state, leading its people to ruin.” “Instead of blaming us, your peaceful neighbors, They should act now to stop Hezbollah“If you continue to ignore Hezbollah’s aggression, the pain and suffering of the Lebanese people will fall on your shoulders,” he told Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib.
Earlier, the Lebanese foreign minister had accused Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of committing a “terrorist aggression” With this week’s attacks in Lebanon and Syria killing at least 37 people and wounding nearly three thousand others: “Is it now necessary to exterminate and hamper the Lebanese people as collective punishment?
Danon said these were “distorted and false statements,” arguing that Israel “a peace-loving country”and said that “the time has come to act and stop Hezbollah. This is the only way to avoid further escalation.”
“The real problem is not Lebanon. The real problem is Hezbollah,” the ambassador said, while proposing to “sit down” with the Lebanese authorities to “to reach some sort of compromise”. Despite this, if there is no diplomatic solution, Israel will take “all necessary measures to protect its citizens and allow residents of northern Israel to return home,” Danon said.
