Lebanon: Israel Challenges the Will of the International Community by Attacking UNIFIL

SadaNews - Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned the Israeli attack on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in the town of Marwahin in southern Lebanon on Thursday, considering that Israel "challenges the will of the international community."

In a statement issued by the Lebanese presidency, Aoun made a phone call to the commander of UNIFIL, General Diodato Abagnara, and "informed him of Lebanon's condemnation of this attack, the most serious since the ceasefire agreement last November, which came less than a week after the extension of UNIFIL's mandate."

On Wednesday, UNIFIL announced that Israeli drones attacked its forces with four bombs, in the "most serious attack" since the ceasefire began between Tel Aviv and Hezbollah, while the Israeli occupation army claimed that it was "not intentional."

It added that "one bomb fell 20 meters away, and three other bombs about 100 meters away from UN personnel and vehicles, and the drones were seen returning to southern area of the Blue Line (inside Israel)."

The Lebanese president considered, according to the statement, that "such attacks reaffirm once again that Israel continues to challenge the will of the international community that recently called for a halt to hostilities against Lebanon, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Lebanese territories they occupy in the south, the return of Lebanese prisoners, and the full implementation of Resolution 1701."

Aoun pointed out that "the most alarming aspect of the recent attack on international soldiers is that Israel was aware in advance of UNIFIL's work in removing road obstacles in the Blue Line area, which means that targeting the international force was intentional and premeditated."

He continued, "This necessitates international action to compel Israel to put an end to its repeated violations of Security Council resolutions and the international immunities granted to peacekeepers worldwide, especially since the Israeli attacks on southern towns and villages are ongoing and daily claim victims and injuries, targeting peaceful civilians, homes, and civilian facilities."

For his part, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam stated that the international community must act immediately to "compel Israel" to stop these "ongoing Israeli violations" against Lebanon.

The condemnation from Lebanon and the Israeli bombings come just before the government is set to hold a session tomorrow, Friday, to discuss a plan commissioned to the army about a month ago, aimed at disarming Hezbollah after months of the ceasefire that ended Israel's devastating war on Lebanon.