Suleiman Considers Israeli Threats 'Clear' Violation to U.N. Resolution 1701
President Michel Suleiman dismissed on Thursday Israeli threats to target residential buildings in Lebanon and civilians as a clear violation to U.N. Security Council resolution 1701.
“The Israeli threats clearly violate resolution 1701 on both political and international levels, in addition to the human rights principles,” Suleiman said in a statement.
He considered that the Israeli remarks create instability among the Lebanese, urging the international community and the United Nations to deal with the matter.
On Wednesday, Israeli air force chief Major-General Amir Eshel accused Hizbullah of establishing bases in residential areas and using civilians as “human shields,” vowing to destroy them in any conflict in the future.
"We will have to deal aggressively with thousands of Hizbullah bases which threaten the State of Israel and mainly our interior," Eshel said in a speech at the Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies, a think-tank near Tel Aviv.
The Israeli official pointed out that Beirut, the Bekaa valley and the South are among the targets.
Eshel said that the Israeli forces are more powerful than Hizbullah with more capabilities than in 2006.
Resolution 1701, which ended the Hizbullah-Israel war in 2006, expanded the mandate of U.N. troops in the South, which was originally formed in 1978 after the outbreak of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.
It imposed a strict embargo on weapons destined for Lebanese or foreign militias in Lebanon, and pressed Israel to end violations of Lebanon's airspace and to withdraw from northern Ghajar.
Israel's border with Lebanon has been largely quiet since the 2006 war with Hizbullah.
However, tension has spiked on the border between the two countries since Lebanese troops shot dead an Israeli soldier driving near the frontier on December 16.
It was the most serious incident along the border since 2010, when one Israeli soldier and two Lebanese soldiers, and a journalist were killed.
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