Violations across the Blue Line – Letter from Lebanon

Identical letters dated 14 June 2004 from the Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council

In reference to our letter of 8 June 2004 and in reply to the accusations put forward by the Chargé              d’affaires of the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations in his letter dated 8 June 2004, I have the honour to transmit to you herewith a list of Israeli violations and acts of aggression committed against Lebanon during the period from 16 May to 13 June 2004, which is a clear indication of the provocative military operations conducted by Israel on land and sea and in the air (see annex).

It can be seen from the said list and the many that have preceded it that these violations and acts of aggression are near-daily occurrences.

The fact that Israel chose the only incident that occurred during the night of 7 June 2004 and presented it in a negative light to the Council, describing it as an act of aggression against an Israeli warship, which, according to statements by the spokesman for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), was cruising in Lebanese territorial waters — an incident in which, moreover, no one was injured — is misleading. That incident cannot in any way constitute grounds for the air raid carried out by Israel in the Na`imah hills, a few miles from the airport of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, nor can it justify all the acts perpetrated before and since 7 June 2004.

The reference in the Israeli Mission’s letter to the potential grave consequences of this limited incident for Israeli civilians or UNIFIL troops is exaggerated to the point of defying comprehension by any rational being. Such dangers are nothing in comparison to the daily threats occasioned by Israeli aircraft laden with bombs and missiles that fly and break the sound barrier over the UNIFIL bases situated in Lebanese territory and over the heads of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civilians. These dangers, moreover, cannot match the dangers to which Lebanese fishermen navigating in Lebanese territorial waters are constantly exposed when they become the targets of heavy machine-gun fire from Israeli warships or the dangers inherent in the near-daily random shelling by Israeli field artillery of the villages of Shab`a and Urqub and other villages of the South inhabited by civilians. What can be said, furthermore, of the persistent refusal by Israel to provide UNIFIL with the rest of the maps indicating the location of the mines which were laid by the Israeli army in Lebanese territory and constantly endanger the lives of the Force’s personnel and Lebanese civilians?

The allusions, in the letter addressed to you by the Israeli Chargé d’affaires, to a Syrian Arab or Iranian role in sponsoring what Israel claims to be terrorism are slanderous lies designed to justify the State terrorism practised by the Israeli armed forces against the population of the territories under their occupation, a practice engaged in by the Israeli State against the inhabitants of territory occupied by it for more than 22 years, after which it was forced by the resistance to withdraw. You are aware that the international community distinguishes between acts of terrorism, which target civilians, and acts of resistance to foreign occupation.

The Israeli Government’s constant accusations, threats and acts of aggression against Lebanon are part of a policy to keep the region in a state of permanent instability so as to enable Israel to refuse to implement Security Council resolutions, in particular resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973); to evade its international commitments; and to shun peace efforts, including the Arab peace initiative and the road map. These facts are not unknown to the Security Council.

Lebanon will continue to inform you of all further violations and acts of aggression committed by Israel, however numerous, for they reveal the true face of Israel in its aggression against our country and show the restraint evinced by the Lebanese as well as the suffering endured by them as a result of Israel’s actions.

Lebanon reserves its right to call for a meeting of the Security Council to discuss these acts of aggression whenever it so deems appropriate.

I should be grateful if you would have the present letter and its annex circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 37, and of the Security Council.

(Signed) Sami Kronfol

Ambassador

Permanent Representative

Annex to the identical letters dated 14 June 2004 from the Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council

List of Israeli violations and acts of aggression committed against Lebanon during the period from 16 May to 13 June 2004

16 May 2004

Between 1515 and 2030 hours Israeli enemy forces positioned within the occupied Shab`a Farms fired a number of rounds at the area around Ruwaysat al-Alam and Radar hill.

At 0229 hours an Israeli military boat in the open sea off Ra’s Naqurah fired a flare bomb.

17 May 2004

Between 1035 and 1205 hours Israeli enemy forces positioned within the occupied Shab`a Farms fired a number of rounds at the area around Radar hill and Ramta.

At 1926 hours an Israeli military boat in the open sea off Ra’s Naqurah fired a number of rounds from medium-calibre weapons and at 2100 hours it fired a flare bomb.

18 May 2004

At 0636 hours and again between 2005 and 2230 hours an Israeli military boat in the open sea off Ra’s Naqurah fired a number of rounds from medium-calibre weapons.

19 May 2004

At 2149 hours an Israeli military boat in the open sea off Ra’s Naqurah fired a number of rounds from medium-calibre weapons.

21 May 2004

At 2129 hours an Israeli military boat in the open sea off Ra’s Naqurah fired a number of rounds from medium-calibre weapons.

24 May 2004

Between 1830 and 1850 hours two Israeli helicopters overflew the occupied Shab`a Farms at medium altitude.

27 May 2004

Between 0705 and 1055 hours and Israeli reconnaissance aircraft flew at medium altitude over South Lebanon, then proceeded in a northerly direction and circled over the Beirut and Mount Lebanon areas, thus violating Lebanese airspace.

Between 1715 and 1830 hours an Israeli reconnaissance aircraft and four warplanes overflew the sea off Byblos (Jubayl) at various altitudes, circled over the Byblos, Baalbek and Shikka regions then left Lebanese airspace, heading out to see off Shikka.

Between 1930 and 2205 hours two Israeli helicopters overflew the occupied Shab`a Farms at medium altitude.

28 May 2004

Between 1045 and 1113 hours two Israeli warplanes overflew the sea off Tripoli at different altitudes, proceeded towards Shikka and then the plain of the Bekaa, circled over the Baalbek, Deir al-Ahmar, Yammunah, Shikka and Batrun areas, then headed in the direction of the Naqurah region and left Lebanese airspace.

5 June 2004

Between 1400 and 1840 hours an Israeli reconnaissance aircraft overflew the sea off Tyre at medium altitude and circled over the Tyre, Nabatiyah and Sidon areas.

6 June 2004

Between 1025 and 1130 hours four Israeli warplanes overflew the sea off Tyre at various altitudes, then proceeded north towards Beirut, the Bekaa plain, Hirmil, Shikka, Tripoli and Halba. Next they circled over the Bekaa, North Lebanon and Beirut areas, then headed in the direction of the Naqurah region and left Lebanese airspace.

7 June 2004

Between 0530 and 0635 hours an Israeli reconnaissance aircraft overflew the sea off Tyre at medium altitude, then circled over the Tyre, Nabatiyah and Sidon areas.

Between 0757 and 0825 hours an Israeli reconnaissance aircraft overflew the sea off Tyre at medium altitude, then circled over the Tyre, Nabatiyah and Sidon areas.

Between 0930 and 0955 hours two Israeli warplanes flew at high altitude over the occupied Shab`a Farms area, then headed north.

Between 0933 and 1017 hours four Israeli warplanes flew at various altitudes over the occupied Shab`a Farms and were then joined by two additional warplanes. All the aircraft overflew the sea off Shikka and circled over the Shuf and Shikka regions.

Between 1000 and 1030 hours a reconnaissance aircraft violated Lebanese airspace over the Naqurah region.

Between 1030 and 1040 hours two Israeli warplanes flew at various altitudes over the sea off Tyre, then headed east, circling over the Ma`rakah and Qana areas.

Between 1200 and 1230 hours a reconnaissance aircraft overflew the Naqurah region.

Between 2145 and 2235 hours an Israeli reconnaissance aircraft flew at medium altitude over the sea off Damur, then circled over the Khaldah and Damur regions.

At 2155 hours two Israeli warplanes violated Lebanese airspace over the sea off Damur, then circled between Beirut and Damur. At 2205 hours they carried out a raid on the Na`imah tunnels, positions of the Popular Front General Command, firing four air-to-ground missiles. There were no human casualties.

8 June 2004

Less than 24 hours after the Israeli air raid on positions of the Popular Front General Command at Na`imah, the situation in the field in the occupied Shab`a Farms area grew tense, as follows:

Between 0855 and 1220 hours Israeli enemy forces fired a number of 120-mm mortar shells from one of their positions within the occupied Shab`a Farms. The shells landed in the area around Birkat al-Naqqar, on the edge of the said Farms.

At 1445 hours Israeli enemy forces raked the area around their position at Ruwaysat al-Alam, within the occupied Shab`a Farms, with medium-weapons fire and the sound of two explosions of unknown cause was heard coming from within the Farms.

At 1522 hours the enemy fired a number of 155-mm artillery shells and 120-mm mortar shells from its positions within the Farms. The shells fell in the area surrounding the villages of Kafr Shuba, Kafr Hammam and Habariyah.

Between 1650 and 1910 hours an enemy reconnaissance aircraft and military aircraft overflew the occupied Shab`a Farms and the Marj `Uyun region and the sound of a number of explosions of unknown cause was heard coming from within the Farms.

Between 2055 and 2120 hours an Israeli helicopter flight took place over Lebanese territorial waters off Ra’s Naqurah and at the Lebanese-Palestinian border opposite the town of Ramya.

Between 2255 and 2310 hours an Israeli military boat in the open sea fired a number of rounds of medium-weapons fire and a flare bomb over the waters off Ra’s Naqurah.

9 June 2004

Between 0720 and 0745 hours an Israeli reconnaissance aircraft flew at medium altitude over the village of Yarun, thus violating Lebanese airspace.

10 June 2004

At 2050 hours an Israeli reconnaissance aircraft overflew the sea off Tyre at medium altitude, then headed towards Beirut, leaving Lebanese airspace at 0150 hours on the morning of 11 June 2004.

12 June 2004

Between 0715 and 1015 hours an Israeli reconnaissance aircraft overflew the sea off Tyre at medium altitude, then circled over Damur and Beirut.

Between 1055 and 1130 hours an Israeli reconnaissance aircraft overflew the occupied Shab`a Farms at medium altitude.

Between 2115 and 2145 hours two Israeli helicopters overflew the occupied Shab`a Farms at medium altitude, thus violating Lebanese airspace.

13 June 2004

Between 1000 and 1012 hours two Israeli warplanes flew at various altitudes over the sea off Shikka, heading east, then south.

Between 1025 and 1050 hours four Israeli warplanes overflew the town of Bint Jubayl at various altitudes, then headed north, circling over Batrun and Byblos, then south. Two of them circled over Nabatiyah and Marj `Uyun, then headed north towards Na`imah, then west.