Itongadol.- Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon presented to the UN Security Council recent IDF intelligence about Hezbollah in Lebanon, including aerial photographs revealing Hezbollah positions and statistics about the organization’s weapons stockpiles on Tuesday. The Israeli mission to the UN told The Jerusalem Post that the intelligence was classified and cleared by the IDF especially for use by Danon during the meeting.
Tuesday’s meeting discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the conditions in Lebanon ten years after Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 and called for “the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese State.”
As he presented the new intelligence to the Council’s members, Danon said: “When the War ended, this Council pledged that Hezbollah would no longer be allowed to threaten Israel and hold the people of Lebanon hostage.”
“I have the unfortunate task of informing this Council that ten years later, the situation has gone from bad to worse,” he added. “The Government of Lebanon never stopped Hezbollah and Hezbollah never stopped its military buildup.”
According to the Israeli representative, Hezbollah now has “more missiles below ground in Lebanon than the European NATO allies have above ground” and when Resolution 1701 was adopted Hezbollah was in possession of 7,000 rockets compared to about 120,000 missiles today.
Danon’s aerial photograph, which was distributed to the council members showed the village of Shaqra in southern Lebanon . It showed a Hezbollah rocket launcher, an infantry position and ammunition depots in the village hidden between homes and close to schools and even a mosque.
“This is exactly what we mean when we say that Hezbollah is committing a double war crime,” Danon told the forum. “Not only are they attacking Israeli civilians, but they are using Lebanese civilians as human shields to defend their terror activity.”
“Let me be clear, should Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah, make the miscalculation that it did in 2006, Israel will be ready to defend its citizens in the most vigorous and forceful way possible,” he stated. “We demand the removal of Hezbollah terrorists from southern Lebanon.”
UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, who concluded his 11th visit to the region last month, joined the Security Council meeting and urged Israelis and Palestinians to “immediately begin discussions with the Quartet” and implement the recommendations in the group’s report released earlier this month, which highlighted major threats to a two state solution including violence, terrorism and incitement; as well as Israel’s policy of settlement expansion.
He also pointed fingers at Israel for the closure of Hebron following the attack on a Jewish family in the area earlier this month, which he described as “collective punishment.” He also denounced Israel’s plans to advance building in the West Bank and in east Jerusalem as a “flagrant disregard of international law.”
“These actions constitute an undeniable contradiction to Israel’s official support for a negotiated two-state solution,” he said. “I urge Israel to immediately cease and reverse these plans.”
Following Tuesday’s meeting, Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour accused Danon of “trying to divert attention from the main aspect of the conflict which is the denial of the national rights of the Palestinian people and the perpetuation and continuation of the occupation,” by focusing on the Lebanese threat.
“He doesn’t want to face this global consensus that says that these are the core issues and Israel has to abide by them,” Mansour continued.