Violations across the Blue Line – Letter from Lebanon

Identical letters dated 30 May 2006 from the Chargé d’affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council

  

  

  On instructions from my Government, I should like to bring to your attention the following:

1.   In the wake of the assassination that took the lives of two Lebanese citizens in the city of Sidon on 26 May 2006 and the subsequent firing of missiles in the direction of the southern side of the Blue Line, by as yet unknown parties, many areas of Lebanon were subjected on Sunday, 28 May 2006, to heavy Israeli bombardment resulting in casualties and destruction of property, accompanied by threats by Israeli officials to bomb vital facilities in the capital, Beirut.

2.   These tragic incidents experienced by Lebanon, which recur periodically, confirm yet again that conditions will not stabilize along Lebanon’s international borders as long as the Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory in the Shaba farmlands and the Kafr Shuba hills and daily violations of Lebanese sovereignty (such as the overflight by 10 warplanes of the capital, Beirut, 24 hours after the ceasefire) continue. Their repeated occurrence poses a threat to peace and security not only in Lebanon, but in the Middle East region as a whole, as the Secretary-General has repeatedly warned in his periodic reports on the operations of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The stability of conditions along the entire Lebanese border, and within Lebanon and the region, is contingent on an end to the occupation, the implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions, and a commitment by Israel to abide by international legitimacy. You are aware of the urgent efforts being made by the Lebanese Government to spread peace and security, establish civil peace in Lebanon, and extend the rule of law throughout Lebanese territory. Any disturbance of security of any kind at this critical stage could obstruct these efforts and have a negative impact on citizens, as well as adverse implications for the outcome of the national dialogue conference that you have supported and encouraged.

3.   The Lebanese Government is resolved to pursue investigations to uncover the circumstances and conditions of the aggression against Lebanese citizens in the city of Sidon. The Lebanese Army Command, in conjunction with the UNIFIL Command, is also conducting the necessary investigations to ascertain the circumstances of the firing of missiles from Lebanese territory with a view to putting an end to them.

  I should be grateful if you would arrange for the present letter to be circulated as a document of the General Assembly at its sixtieth session, under agenda item 14, and of the Security Council.

 

 

(Signed) Caroline Ziadeh 

Chargé d’affaires a.i.

 

 

*   Reissued for technical reasons.

 

________________


Document symbol: A/60/866|S/2006/346*
Document Type: Letter
Document Sources: General Assembly, Security Council
Country: Israel, Lebanon
Subject: Agenda Item, Incidents, Peacekeeping, Situation in Lebanon
Publication Date: 30/05/2006
2019-03-11T20:59:17-04:00

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