Mideast situation – Letter from Lebanon

Letter dated l6 January 1975 from the Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General*

On instructions from my Government, and pursuant to our letters of 13 December 1974 (S/11572) and 4 January 1975  (S/11590), I have the honour to communicate to you a list of the  following acts of aggression which Israel committed in a new series of incidents from 3 to 13 January 1975:

Israeli war planes penetrated Lebanese airspace and broke the sound barrier on 17 occasions.

Israeli warships,  intruded Lebanese territorial waters on five occasions.

Israeli artillery shelled positions inside Lebanese territory on 32 occasions .

Israeli units fired machine-guns into Lebanese territory on three occasions.

Israeli troops entered Lebanese territory on four occasions.

As a result of these acts of aggression, three civilians were wounded, three houses destroyed, 21 houses damaged and one bridge blown up.  Large areas of cultivation have also suffered widespread damage.

These unprovoked attacks on Lebanon are a part of a long campaign of terror conducted by Israel against the peaceful life of the Lebanese population, particularly in southern Lebanon.  They are so designed as to constantly aggravate the situation in the Middle East and to endanger peace in the area.

The Government of Lebanon wishes to lodge its strongest protest with the Security Council against Israel's repeated and condemnable acts of aggression. Lebanon reiterates its view that the solution of the problem of the Middle East does not lie in the bombardment of Lebanese villages and in the murder of innocent civilians, but in the application of the relevant United Nations resolutions whose objectives are the establishment of peace with justice in the area.

Furthermore, the Government of Lebanon believes that the Security Council bears a primordial responsibility to enforce its past resolutions and to deter Israel from constantly endangering peace and security.

I have the honour to request that this letter be circulated as an official document of the General Assembly and the Security Council.

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* An identical letter was addressed to the President of the Security Council.