Israeli massacres in Lebanon ‘will not secure return of settlers to north’: Lebanese FM
The Cradle, September 21, 2024 —
Beirut’s top diplomat made the comments during an emergency UN Security Council Session called in response to Israel’s ‘pager attack’ in Lebanon that killed dozens earlier this week.
During an emergency session at the UN on 20 September, Beirut’s top diplomat said that Israel will not be able to return its citizens to settlements in the north by carrying out terror attacks against the people of Lebanon.
The session was called after Israel killed dozens of people and maimed thousands more when it detonated thousands of electronic communication devices in Lebanon this week.
Speaking at the Security Council, Abdallah Bou Habib called the Israeli attack “an unprecedented method of warfare in its brutality and terror.”
“Israel, through this terrorist aggression has violated the basic principles of international humanitarian law,” he stated, while adding that Israel is a “rogue state.”
Pagers and walkie-talkies carried by members of the Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah, exploded as their user were shopping in supermarkets, walking on streets and attending funerals on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Many were permanently maimed, losing their eyesight or hands to the explosions.
The foreign minister stressed that Israel will not be able to return its citizens displaced from settlements in the north using such violence. Israel will only see more settlers displaced by expanding the conflict with Hezbollah, he added.
The UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, also condemned Israel’s attack, calling it a war crime.
“International humanitarian law prohibits the use of booby-trap devices in the form of apparently harmless portable objects,” Turk told the Security Council during the emergency session requested by Algeria.
“It is a war crime to commit violence intended to spread terror among civilians,” he added, repeating his call for an “independent, rigorous and transparent” investigation.
“I am appalled by the breadth and impact of the attacks,” said Turk.
“These attacks represent a new development in warfare, where communication tools become weapons,” he added.
“This cannot be the new normal.”
In the same emergency session, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said Israel will do “whatever it takes” to restore security in northern areas.
“If Hezbollah does not retreat from our border … through diplomatic efforts, Israel will be left with no choice but to use any means within our rights,” he said.
Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, did not condemn Israel’s attack, saying only that he was “very concerned about the heightened escalation” in fighting between Hezbollah and Israel and calling for “maximum restraint” from all sides.
The UN Security Council session followed another horrific Israeli terror attack on Lebanon Friday.
Israel warplanes fired four missiles at two residential buildings in the heart of southern Beirut, killing 31 people and injuring 68 more, including children.
The strike killed the commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, Ibrahim Aqil. The former Radwan commander, Fuad Shukr, was assassinated by a similar Israeli strike on a building in Beirut in July.