Beirut: Lebanon Friday complained to the UN against Israel’s retaliation, following the Hezbollah operation in Shebaa Farms, at the intersection of the Lebanon-Syria border and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Lebanon’s envoy to the UN, Nawwaf Salam, said Israel’s shelling violated the UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1701, according to a Xinhua report, which cited the Lebanese state-owned National News Agency (NNA).
According to the report, Lebanon urged the UNSC to condemn Israel “in the strongest terms” over Wednesday’s shelling.
The UNSC adopted Resolution 1701 in 2006, calling for a full cessation of hostilities in the month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah, while mapping out a formula for the phased withdrawal of the Israel Defence Forces from southern Lebanon.
Lebanon said that the Israeli strikes were a “blatant” violation of its sovereignty, the UN Charter, international law and UNSC resolutions, especially Resolution 1701.
It also asked the UNSC to probe Israel’s attacks against the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which left a Spanish peacekeeper dead, adding that Israel should be directly responsible for “this deplored act and its consequences”.
Spain’s ambassador to the UN also blamed Israel for the death of the Spaniard Wednesday. The UN said the cause of his death was the subject of investigation.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah chief, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said Friday that his group has the right to respond to an Israeli attack in any way or at any time it deemed fit.
“The resistance no longer recognises the rules of engagement and it has the right to respond to the enemy at any time or place,” he said.
“From now on, if any member of (the) Hezbollah is assassinated, we will blame it on Israel,” he said.
Nasrallah added: “We do not fear war and we will not hesitate in waging it if it is imposed on us.”
He also revealed that his group has begun planning its retaliation, and said that they were preparing themselves for “the worst case scenario”.
This statement of intent by the Hezbollah chief came after Lebanon Thursday called for avoiding a full-blown war with Israel and Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon said that he received a message of restraint from the Hezbollah through the UN.
Two Israeli soldiers were killed and seven wounded Wednesday in a Hezbollah attack on a military convoy in the occupied Shebaa Farms area.
A day earlier, four rockets were launched from Syria into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, without causing injuries to anyone.
The two attacks came after an alleged Israel airstrike in Syria’s Qoneitra city, that killed a commander of the Hezbollah and an Iranian general, along with other operatives. Israel did not acknowledge responsibility for the attack.
The Hezbollah attack on Shebaa Farms prompted Israel to shell areas in southern Lebanon in a significant escalation along the volatile border.