Kuwait’s Representative to the United Nations reaffirmed his country’s denunciation of the Israeli violations of the safety and sovereignty of Lebanon. Ambassador Mansour A. AlOtaibi urged the international community for force Israel into abiding by the UNSC Resolution 1701 (2006).
He was addressing a UN Security Council meeting on the situation along the Blue Line (Lebanon’s borders with Israel). The meeting followed Israel’s announcement on December 4 that it was conducting a military operation to uncover and disable crossborder tunnels.
“Lebanon has long been living with threats and violations by Israel’s army,” Ambassador AlOtaibi said, noting that Lebanese President Michel Aoun has committed to addressing the crisis in keeping with the provisions of the UNSC Resolution 1701.
“Unfortunately, calls by the international community and attempts by UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) have failed to end the attacks by the Israeli Air Force. “Indeed, violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty happen daily, but no calls were heard for the Council to meet to address those crimes,” he regretted.
He noted that Israel’s violations have reached a new level, with monitoring and spying devices now spread across Lebanese territory and its telecommunications network, which violates the privacy of Lebanese citizens.
He said that the number of breaches of the Lebanese airspace by the Israeli warplanes topped 550 over the last four months with flight hours exceeding 2,000. Ambassador AlOtaibi reiterated Kuwait’s support for Lebanon’s efforts to protect its sovereignty and security, and meet its international obligations including those made during the Rome II conference in support of the Lebanese security forces held in midMarch 2018.
He called on the international community to help shore up the Lebanese economy and meet the aid pledged made during international conference in support of Lebanese economy, held in Paris in early April 2018.
He urged helping the Lebanese government continue its neutral foreign policy as per the 2012 Baabda Declaration. Ambassador AlOtaibi also called on all parties to use the tripartite negotiating channel and other avenues of dialogue to resolve the situation.
He highlighted the need of full implementation of the Resolution 1701 by ending Israel’s threats, saying, “We must distinguish between terrorism and legitimate resistance” against Israel’s ongoing violations and occupation of Lebanese territory.”
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