[Isaiah 17 draws closer by the day.]
Israel has appealed to the United Nations to intervene in southern Lebanon, saying that the Palestinian terror group Hamas is working with Hezbollah to establish missile factories and camps to train thousands of fighters there.
The issue was first reported Saturday by a Lebanese daily, quoting UN sources. It was later confirmed by the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, which said the issue has been regularly raised at the UN.
According to the Al Joumhouria report, Israel sent a letter in recent weeks to the UN Security Council and General Assembly containing intelligence on the terror groups’ efforts to set up missile factories in Lebanon for Hamas, as well as training facilities overseen by senior Hezbollah members for “thousands of Palestinian fighters.”
In the letter, Israel charged that the cooperation between the Iran-backed organizations was a “blatant violation” of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War between the Israeli military and Hezbollah and mandated the disarmament of armed groups in Lebanon, such as Hezbollah.
Israel requested the UN intervene to stop the cooperation between Hamas and Hezbollah, according to the report.
“The issue is on Israel’s agenda at the UN and is regularly raised in meetings, official letters and speeches, both to the UN Secretary-General and UN Security Council,” the Foreign Ministry said in response to the report.
“The cooperation between Hamas and Hezbollah crosses borders. We are witnessing the results of the Hamas terror government in Gaza, and now Hamas is tightening its ties with Hezbollah with the blessing and support of Iran, which is working to entrench its own forces also on Lebanese soil,” Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said in a statement following the report.
“I have recently appealed to the Security Council and warned of this cooperation between the terror organizations. I emphasized that Israel will not stand by idly in the face of new and old threats that face it,” Danon said. “Israel will do everything to safeguard its citizens.”
Israel’s complaints to the UN on the cooperation in Lebanon between Hamas and Hezbollah — both of which are supported by Iran — came as Israel also has raised concern over Iranian military entrenchment elsewhere on its northern border in Syria.
Israel has repeatedly vowed it will not tolerate Iran’s military presence in Syria and has carried out airstrikes on Iranian targets in the country, including last month in response to Iran’s firing of rockets from Syria at the Golan Heights.
Israel fears that as the Syrian civil war winds down, Iran, whose forces and Shiite proxies have backed President Bashar Assad, will entrench militarily in the neighboring country and turn its focus on Israel.
On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that in a ploy to try to reduce pressure from Israel, Iranian-backed forces, including Hezbollah, have withdrawn their forces from areas in southern Syria, only to later return posing as Syrian military units.
An Israeli aircraft on Saturday for the first time attacked a group of three Gazans preparing a store of balloons that Palestinians have been using to send incendiary devices over the border during Gaza protests, the army said.
No injuries were reported in the strike near the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun. The IDF said the aircraft fired “a warning shot.”
“We view the use of incendiary balloons and kites very seriously and will continue to act to prevent their use,” the army said.
The report came as Palestinians continued to send flaming kites into Israel, including one that was apparently carrying an explosive device, Israel Radio reported.
The device was safely detonated by sappers and police warned the public not to approach the kites or balloons.
Also Saturday the IDF apprehended a Palestinian who crossed the border fence into Israel. He was carrying a sling and taken for interrogation, military officials said.
Kites continued to set fires in Israeli fields and nature reserves Saturday.
One of the new fires broke out near Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, while another near the city of Sderot.
Police temporarily closed Route 34 to traffic between Sderot and Kibbutz Yad Mordechai due to the fire. Firefighters were battling both blazes.
No comments:
Post a Comment