President Michel Aoun has slammed a recent Israeli letter to the U.N., warning that any Israeli threats to Lebanon’s sovereignty will be met with an “appropriate response.”
Israeli envoy to the U.N. Danny Danon’s letter is “a blatant Israeli attempt to threaten security and stability” in south Lebanon, Aoun said, warning that “any Israeli attempt to harm Lebanese sovereignty or expose the Lebanese to danger will be met with the appropriate response.”
And warning that Danon’s letter contained a “threat to Lebanon,” the president called on the international community to “pay attention to Israel’s hostile intentions towards Lebanon.”
“It is Israel that should abide by the Security Council resolutions, seeing as it is still refusing to implement Resolution 1701 or to move from the phase of the cessation of hostilities to the phase of ceasefire although the resolution was issued more than 11 years ago,” Aoun told visitors at the Baabda Palace.
“It is also still occupying Lebanese territory in the northern part of the town of Ghajar as well as in the Shebaa Farms and Kfarshouba Hills, not to mention its daily violations of the Blue Line and Lebanese sovereignty in air and sea. The displacement of half a million Palestinians hosted by Lebanon also continues, which represents a continued aggression against Lebanon and its people,” Aoun added.
The development comes days after Hizbullah and Israel exchanged threats.
“If (Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan) Nasrallah dares to fire at the Israel homefront or at its national infrastructure, all of Lebanon will be hit,” Yisrael Katz, Israel’s Minister of Intelligence, said Thursday in response to threats launched earlier in the day by Nasrallah.
Nasrallah advised Israel to “dismantle the Dimona nuclear reactor,” warning that it poses a threat to Israel’s existence if hit by his group’s missiles.
A 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah killed about 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and around 160 Israelis mostly soldiers before ending in a United Nations-brokered cease-fire.
The Israel-Lebanon border has remained mostly quiet since the 2006 war but there have been sporadic outbursts of violence.
