Lebanon to File Complaint against Israeli Strikes
Lebanon will file a complaint at the United Nations over the Israeli shelling on Lebanese territories and the death of a Spanish peacekeeper with the U.N. force in southern Lebanon, media reports said on Friday.
According to al-Akhbar newspaper, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil asked Nawaf Salam, Lebanon's Permanent Representative to the U.N., to file the complaint.
“The complaint is to condemn the Israeli raids on the South and the death of the Spaniard,” al-Akhbar quoted Bassil as saying.
The violence erupted Wednesday when Hizbullah fired a salvo of anti-tank missiles at an Israeli military convoy in the occupied Shebaa Farms, killing two soldiers and wounding seven. Israel responded with shelling. A Spanish peacekeeper was killed in the exchange.
Hizbullah declared its attack an act of retaliation for an airstrike, attributed to Israel, which targeted Hizbullah fighters inside neighboring Syria earlier this month. The strike killed six fighters and an Iranian general. Both Iran and Hizbullah are allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Spain's ambassador to the United Nations blamed Israel for the death of the Spaniard on Wednesday. The U.N. said the cause of death remains the subject of investigation.
U.N. peacekeepers were seen in southern Lebanon on Thursday, inspecting damage at the Spanish contingent's base in Abbasiyeh village, where the soldier was killed.
A memorial service for the peacekeeper was held at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport, attended by United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Commander Maj. Gen. Luciano Portolano, before his body was flown out.
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