Mideast situation/Lebanon – Letter from Lebanon

GENERAL ASSEMBLY SECURITY COUNCIL

Fiftieth session Fiftieth year

Agenda item 44

THE SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Letter dated 1 December 1995 from the Permanent

Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations

addressed to the Secretary-General

On instructions from my Government and further to our earlier letters concerning repeated Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon and the western Bekaa, I have the honour to notify you of a series of such attacks that took place in the first half of November 1995.

1 November 1995

At 0600 hours Israeli forces began to shell Ayta al-Jabal, Tibnin, Bra`shit, Jba` and Mazra`at Kafra.

At 0700 hours Israeli forces began to shell the environs of Wadi Bisri, Jun, Bikfayya, Mazra`at al-Dahr and Mtullah.

At 0810 hours Israeli forces supported by aircraft were continuing to bombard Ayta al-Jabal, Tibnin, Bra`shit, Haddatha, Haris, Yatar, Kafra, Shaqra and Majdal Silm, causing an outbreak of fires in the area.

At 1200 hours Israeli warplanes overflew the Mashgharah – Ayn al-Tinah -Maydun area.

At 1240 hours an Israeli force attempted unsuccessfully to advance from its position in the Dibsah neighbourhood towards Nabatiyah al-Fawqa.

At 1430 hours Israeli warplanes attacked the Mlita and Luwayzah hills. Then the shelling of villages in the Nabatiyah area stopped after a Lebanese citizen had been injured.

At 1845 hours Israeli warplanes overflew Sidon and the camps nearby.

2 November 1995

The area around the Army barracks in Nabatiyah al-Fawqa came under Israeli artillery bombardment.

Israeli forces shelled parts of Mashgharah and Ayn al-Tinah.

3 November 1995

Israeli forces shelled the environs of Arabshit, Majdal Silm and Qabrikha.

4 November 1995

The environs of Bra`shit, Tibnin, Ayta al-Jabal and Haddatha came under Israeli artillery bombardment.

The environs of Jarju` and the Mlita and Jabal Safi hills came under Israeli artillery bombardment.

5 November 1995

Israeli warplanes overflew the Nabatiyah and Iqlim al-Tuffah areas at medium altitudes and carried out mock attacks.

6 November 1995

Israeli forces and the South Lebanon Army closed all government and private schools and all places of business in the Jazzin, Marj Uyun and Hasbayya districts.  The Batir-Jazzin crossing was also closed in both directions.

7 November 1995

Israeli warplanes overflew the Nabatiyah and Iqlim al-Tuffah areas at low altitudes.

Israeli forces shelled the hills of Mashgharah and Maydun.

8 November 1995

The hills to the south of Ayn al-Tinah and Maydun came under Israeli artillery bombardment.

At 1845 hours the environs of Tibnin, Bra`shit, Safad al-Battikh, Shaqra and Ayta al-Jabal came under Israeli artillery bombardment.

At 1900 hours the environs of Arabsalim, Jarju` and Ayn Bu Siwar came under Israeli artillery bombardment.

9 November 1995

At 0530 hours Tibnin, Bra`shit, Haris and Ayta al-Jabal came under Israeli artillery bombardment.

  At 0800 hours Israeli forces closed the Zimriya crossing in both directions.

At 1030 hours the hills to the south of Maydun and Ayn al-Tinah came under Israeli artillery bombardment.

At 1030 hours the Mlita and Jabal Safi hills, the environs of Arabsalim, Jba`, Jarju` and Ayn Bu Siwar and areas along the Litani river came under Israeli artillery bombardment.

At 1720 hours Israeli forces shelled the Maydun and Ayn al-Tinah hills and the environs of Mashgharah.

At 1930 hours Israeli forces shelled the environs of Tibnin, Ayta al-Jabal, Haddatha and Bra`shit.

10 November 1995

At 0800 hours the area around Mashgharah and Ayn al-Tinah came under Israeli artillery bombardment.

At 2230 Israeli helicopters proceeded to comb the Iqlim al-Tuffah and Jisr al-Sitt Zubaydah area.

At 2230 hours the environs of Kafr Rumman, Habbush, Arabsalim, Jarju` and Ayn Bu Siwar came under Israeli artillery bombardment.  The bombardment affected the environs of Kafr Tibnit, Zawtar, Mazra`at al-Hamra', areas along the Litani river, the outskirts of Nabatiyah al-Fawqa, the area around the abandoned Army barracks and the Mlita and Jabal Safi hills.

11 November 1995

Wahib Ra'if Fa`ur, a Lebanese citizen driving on the Mimis – Marj al-Zuhur highway in the Hasbayya district, was wounded in the hand by a shot fired at him by Israeli forces positioned on Zimriya hill.

12 November 1995

The environs of Kafr Killa in the Nabatiyah district came under artillery bombardment from Israeli forces.  One Lebanese citizen, Ahmad Kayid Sharaf, lost a leg.

At 1530 hours the environs of Arabsalim, Jarju` and Ayn Bu Siwar came under Israeli artillery bombardment, and Israeli warplanes overflew the Nabatiyah area at medium altitudes.

At 1930 hours the environs of Arabsalim, Jarju` and Ayn Bu Siwar came under Israeli artillery bombardment.

13 November 1995

At 1245 hours Israeli warplanes and helicopters attacked Popular Front positions in the Na`imah hills and fired a number of rockets.

At 1700 hours the aerial bombardment of the same positions was resumed. Two persons were killed and eight were injured; the home of Nu`man Salih Sasin, a Lebanese citizen, was destroyed; and serious damage was done to houses and vehicles in Na`imah town.

At 2030 hours the environs of Kafr Rumman came under Israeli artillery bombardment.

At 2200 hours the environs of Ayta al-Jabal, Haddatha, Tibnin and Bra`shit came under Israeli bombardment.

At 2220 hours Israeli warplanes overflew Sidon and the camps nearby.

14 November 1995

At 0600 hours the hills around Maydun, Ayn al-Tinah and Jabal Abu Rashid came under Israeli artillery bombardment.

At 1800 the environs of Kafra, Yatar, Tibnin, Bra`shit al-Jabal, Haddatha and Haris came under Israeli artillery bombardment.

Israeli vessels detained a fishing boat and those on board, namely Husayn Muhammad Taha, Ali Muhammad Taha and Imad Ali al-Zuzu.

15 November 1995

At 1030 hours the environs of Arabsalim, Jarju`, Ayn Bu Siwar and Jba` came under Israeli artillery bombardment.

At 1200 hours the hills to the south of Mashgharah and Ayn al-Tinah came under Israeli artillery bombardment.

At 1430 hours the environs of Arabsalim, Jarju`, Ayn Bu Siwar and Jba` and areas along the Litani river came under Israeli artillery bombardment.

At 1600 hours the environs of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah and Zawtar al-Gharbiyah came under Israeli artillery bombardment.

The Lebanese Government strongly condemns these repeated Israeli attacks, which have caused enormous damage to property.  It further condemns in the strongest terms the arbitrary practices against civilians.  Like previous attacks, this new series constitutes blatant aggression against the sovereignty and independence of Lebanon and represents another flagrant violation of international law and basic human rights.

I should be grateful if you would have this letter circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 44, and of the Security Council.

(Signed)  Samir MOUBARAK     

Permanent Representative

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