Kaag Says Hizbullah Violated 1701 in Shebaa Operation
U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag has said that Hizbullah violated Security Council Resolution 1701 when it attacked Israeli troops in the occupied Shebaa Farms area in January.
“The attack on the Israeli convoy is a clear violation of the cessation of hostilities between Lebanon and Israel,” Kaag told An Nahar newspaper in an interview published on Friday.
“In short, Hizbullah violated Resolution 1701,” which ended the 2006 war between the party and Israel, she said.
Hizbullah fired a salvo of missiles at the Israeli military convoy in the Shebaa Farms on January 28, killing two soldiers and triggering deadly clashes that marked the most serious escalation since the 2006 war.
The flare-up also left a U.N. peacekeeper from the Spanish contingent dead.
Asked whether Hizbullah officials have provided assurances that there will be calm on the border with Israel, Kaag said: “I met with Hizbullah representatives before and after the crisis.”
“They all reiterated that the operation was carefully calibrated,” she told An Nahar.
“Hizbullah does not consider the operation a violation of the resolution (1701) given the area where it took place,” she said.
But the diplomat said that the latest report on the implementation of 1701 is clear. It states the stop of hostilities and does not specify a single location.
Asked about the presidential vacuum, Kaag hoped for a decision to elect a new head of state.
“We need a determined patriotic leadership and an effective government,” she said.
Kaag hailed the cabinet of Prime Minister Tammam Salam but said the Lebanese should not get used to the vacuum and create a status-quo.
“This is not in Lebanon's interest,” she added.
Lebanon has been without a head of state since President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ended in May last year.
On her expectations from the Kuwait III conference on March 13, Kaag said the humanitarian meeting will help “put Lebanon on the map again.”
Lebanon urgently needs international support to help manage the refugee crisis, she said.
There are more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Well over half of them are living in insecure dwellings – up from a third last year.
G.K.
H.K.
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