Mideast situation/Lebanon – Letter from Lebanon

Letter dated 19 June 1987 from the Permanent Representative of Lebanon

to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary -General

On instructions from my Government and further to my previous letters, I have the honour to inform you that Israel has not ceased its constant attacks on southern Lebanon by land and by air or its naval blockade of the port of Sidon.

Below are some of the details of these attacks for Wednesday, 17 June 1987:

1. In the morning, military helicopters conducted a raid against the village of Kabrikha north of the so-called "security zone", firing five air-to-ground missiles at it, which resulted in the wounding of a number of the inhabitants and damage to property.

2. In the afternoon, Israeli Air Force planes conducted a raid against the eastern outskirts of the city of Sidon and the Ein-el-Hilweh camp, causing the death of one person and the wounding of six others, including a man in his seventies. This was in addition to losses of buildings and and property.

3. On the same day, Israeli Army artillery shelled a number of villages located along the edge of the so-called "security zone" which Israel is occupying inside Lebanese territory. An adolescent girl in the village of Kafr Roummane and a woman in the village of Habbouche were killed.

4. A force from the so-called "South Lebanon Army" advanced hundreds of metres from inside the "security zone" in the direction of the village of Kafra, which is located within the area of operation of the Nepalese unit. Before its withdrawal, it fired 15 missiles from its tanks at a deserted house on the road between Kafra and Haris and demolished it.

5. In the evening of the same day (11.30 local time), an Israeli force composed of hundreds of elements and with tank support penetrated six kilometres to the north of the so-called "security zone" and began combing a number of villages and farms.

The Lebanese Government, in vigorously condemning these criminal Israeli attacks, reiterates its warning of Israel's continuing violation of the provisions of international law, the Charter of the United Nations and the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council and repeats that Israel bears the responsibility for the explosion of the security situation in southern Lebanon.

Israel's full, complete and unconditional withdrawal from Lebanese territory, in implementation of Security Council resolutions, beginning with resolutions 425 (1978) and 426 (1978) and including subsequent relevant resolutions, is the only solution that can make the southern region a region of peace and security under the rule and authority of the Lebanese State, with the assistance of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon during the initial phase and its deployment along the internationally recognized boundaries. Unless these resolutions are implemented, the so-called "security zone" will remain a forward base which Israel intends to use not for the protection of its borders as it alleges but in order to perpetuate the grave situation there and to promote its explosion in the service of its interests and goals. Israel's continuation of its attacks is but a proof of this policy, which threatens international peace and security.

I request you to have this letter circulated as an official document of the General Assembly, under item 39 of the preliminary list, and of the Security Council.

(Signed)

Rachid FAKHOURY

Ambassador

Permanent Representative

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*A/42/50.