Mideast situation/Lebanon – Letter from Lebanon

Letter dated 18 February 1986 from the Permanent Representative of Lebanon

to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

Further to previous Lebanese letters of complaint concerning persistent Israeli acts of aggression and Israeli practices in the south that violate the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Lebanon and contravene the norms of international law and the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, particularly its resolutions 425 (1978), 508 (1982) and 509 (1982), and on instructions from my Government, I have the honour to inform you of the following grave actions and measures taken by the Israeli occupation authorities in the recent past in southern Lebanon:

1. Recently, Israel has, in practical terms, altered the international boundaries in the area opposite the colony of Metulla by moving the barbed-wire strip extending along the boundaries in the area about one and one half kilometres to the north.

The barbed-wire strip, which has now so to speak come to constitute the new boundary, extends in the following manner:

From point A, as shown in the map annexed hereto, towards the north to point B, and then in a south-easterly direction along the TAPline underground oil pipeline.

2. Israel has also built a new road from point B to point C. It runs in a north-easterly direction to point D, and then south along the line of the heights to point E. This road has been paved with crushed stone in order to facilitate surveillance of infiltration into Israel.

3. A barbed-wire fence of about two metres in height has been erected, extending from point A to point E. Antennae and electronic sensors have been installed on it. A barbed-wire strip with stakes, lying on the ground, has also been observed south of this point.

4. New steel gateways have been erected at the following points:  point B, point E and point F.

5. Prefabricated buildings have been erected in fields belonging to the town of Sha'ba, and they are presently used for military purposes.

6. There has recently been an increase in acts of aggression against areas adjacent to what Israel calls the "security zone", the most serious being the expulsion of the people from the town of Kunin on 30 December 1985.

The Israeli actions and measures set forth above may be characterized as being of an extremely grave nature in view of the following considerations:

1. The matter goes beyond the issue of the continued occupation of territory and relates to the question of altering international boundaries. This is particularly so since the new fait accompli on the ground may be perpetuated and take on a permanent character in view of the nature and scope of the Israeli actions, on the one hand, and, on the other, given the statements recently made by certain Israeli military leaders concerning the need to modify the boundaries with Lebanon in order to protect the town of Metulla directly.

2. The Israeli actions in question may be classified as part of continuing preparations to pump water from the Litani to Israel through the underground TAPline pipes.

3. These actions represent yet another violation of the norms of international law, the provisions of the 1949 Israel-Lebanon Armistice Agreement and Security Council resolutions 425 (1978), 508 (1982) and 509 (1982) , which call for complete and unconditional Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory.

The Lebanese Government considers that it has a fundamental and patriotic duty to call the attention of the Security Council and of the international community to the gravity of Israeli actions and measures prejudicial to internationally recognized boundaries. Should the Security Council fail to adopt a decisive resolution on such actions, they are likely to continue, to be repeated in other parts of southern Lebanon and, consequently, to perpetuate the fait accompli, a policy that Israel has distinguished itself by imposing on the Arab region for decades past.

On the ground, the Israeli measures are an evident fact. Lebanon's right to its territory and its water sources is a demonstrable, manifest and indisputable right. No State Member of the United Nations can accept that a neighbouring State, on whatever pretext, should erect barbed wire and build roads within its territory, as a preliminary to appropriating a part of that territory, without registering its opposition or striving to restore justice by all legitimate means.

In the light of the foregoing, the security Council is called upon, by the very nature of the case and in accordance with the responsibilities entrusted to it, to take adequate measures to induce Israel to rescind the actions and measures that it has taken, to prevent their recurrence and to prevail on Israel to respect the sovereignty, independence and territorial inviolability of Lebanon and the provisions of the 1949 Armistice Agreement. It is, moreover, incumbent upon the Council to take practical measures to ensure the implementation of those resolutions that it has already adopted, particularly its resolutions 425 (1978) , 508 (1982) and 509 (1982), which call for complete and unconditional Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and the deployment of international forces up to the internationally recognized boundaries in order to assist the restoration of Lebanese authority to all Lebanese territory and to transform the south into a zone of peace.

Accordingly, I request you to have this letter and its annex circulated as an official document of the General Assembly, under item 37 of the preliminary list, and of the Security Council.

(Signed)  Rachid FAKHOURY

Ambassador

Permanent Representative of

Lebanon to the United Nations

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*A/41/50.

*

A/41/50.