Situation along the Blue Line – Letter from Lebanon

LETTER FROM THE PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF LEBANON TO THE UNITED NATIONS ADDRESSED TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL

On instructions from my Government, I have the honour to bring the following to your attention:

On Monday, 10 January 1972, at 11.30 p.m., a unit of the Israeli army penetrated into Lebanese territory as far as the village of Bint-Jbayl and proceeded to destroy two houses.

On Tuesday, 11 January 1972, at 1 a.m., more than 100 Israeli soldiers penetrated into Lebanese territory as far as the village of Kfar Haman where they proceeded to destroy two houses.

At the same time, Israeli artillery shelled the village of Rachayya al-Fakhar, killing one Lebanese woman, wounding her husband and destroying three houses.

The purpose of these premeditated further acts of aggression is to disturb peace and security in southern Lebanon and to foster a state of tension and instability in the Middle East.  They constitute flagrant violations of the armistice agreement concluded between Lebanon and Israel and a defiance of the United-Nations Charter and Security Council resolutions – in particular resolution 262 (1968) of 31 December 1968, resolution 270 (1969) of 26 August 1969 and resolution 280 (1970) of 19 May 1970, in which the Security Council condemned Israel for its acts of aggression against Lebanon and solemnly warned it against repeating them.

While bringing these facts to the attention of the Security Council, the Lebanese Government wishes to register a strong protest against these further acts of aggression which are consistent with Israel's policy continually to stir up sources of tension in Lebanon and in the region.

I shall be grateful if you will kindly have the text of this letter circulated as an official Security Council document.