Israel's Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, on Friday sent an urgent letter of complaint to the Security Council and the UN Secretary-General in which he strongly condemned the rocket fire on Israel from Lebanon this week, which endangers the entire region and constitutes a violation of Security Council Resolution 1701.
Erdan noted in his letter that the rocket fire this week joins a series of terrorist attacks and rocket fire from Lebanon against Israel in the last three months and that this is an unacceptable situation, which could undermine the stability of the region.
“On 6 August 2021 Hezbollah fired a barrage of 19 rockets at Israel. This attack comes only two days after three additional rockets were fired towards Israel from Lebanon. Two of the rockets fired on 4 August 2021 landed in the vicinity of the city of Qiryat Shmona, sending tens of thousands of Israeli civilians, including young children, to bomb shelters. The third rocket fell short of the Blue Line, inside Lebanese territory,” wrote Erdan.
The Ambassador further stated that “Hezbollah’s continued aggression and its terrorist infrastructure are a threat not only to Israel, but also to the people of Lebanon who are cynically used as human shields as rockets are fired within populated areas.”
“Israel holds the Government of Lebanon responsible for any action originating from within its territory, regardless of the affiliation of the individuals or the terrorist group that carried out the attacks. These repeated attempts to harm Israeli civilians and breaches of Israel’s sovereignty are further indications of the Lebanese government's failure to exert control over all parts of its territory,” he added.
“These most recent terrorist attacks were carried out on the one-year anniversary of the explosion in the port of Beirut and as Lebanon finds itself in a deep crisis. It is clear that Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations are trying to distract from their active role in bringing Lebanon to its current state of crisis by attacking Israeli civilians. The international community must take action to prevent these organizations from diverting resources needed to rehabilitate Lebanon towards their malign activities and prevent them from instigating conflict in the region,” wrote Erdan.
The IDF said on Friday morning that 19 rockets had been fired at Israel from Lebanon.
10 of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, six of them fell in open areas, and the remaining three fell in Lebanese territory. No one was injured and no damage was caused.
On Wednesday, three rockets were fired at Israel by Palestinian Arab rebel groups. Two of them fell in open areas, while the last rocket fell in Lebanon.
In response, IDF fighter jets on Wednesday night attacked areas in Lebanon from which rockets were fired toward the State of Israel as well as infrastructure used for terrorism.
Another target was attacked in an area from which rockets were fired in the past.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)