Gilad Erdan
Gilad ErdanFlash 90

Israel’s Ambassador to the US and UN, Gilad Erdan, on Sunday responded to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ remarks regarding the incidents on Israel’s northern border.

In his statement earlier in the day, Guterres expressed “deep concern about the recent escalation between Lebanon and Israel across the Blue Line, including rocket fire into Israel and return airstrikes and artillery fire into Lebanon.”

He called “on all parties to exercise utmost restraint and to actively engage with UNIFIL’s liaison and coordination mechanisms. It is paramount that all actors involved avoid actions that can further heighten tensions and lead to miscalculation.”

In response, Erdan said, "It is unfortunate that the UN Secretary-General repeatedly chooses to draw a moral equivalency between attacks perpetuated by designated terrorist organizations and the law abiding, democratic State of Israel, which is a member of the UN. Hezbollah continues to commit war crimes and target Israeli civilians from within the Lebanese civilian population, using and abusing them as human shields and committing a double war crime.”

“Israel does the very opposite - it takes every precaution, often well beyond the call of law, to protect all civilians,” he added.

“It is inconceivable that the rocket fire for which Hezbollah itself explicitly took responsibility has not been attributed by the Secretary General to that terrorist organization.”

“The UN continues to willfully turn a blind eye to Hezbollah's war crimes and acts of terror and its effective control of Lebanese territory. These actions by Hezbollah will ultimately lead to the destruction of Lebanon,” warned Erdan.

“We expect more from the UN, which should serve as a voice of moral clarity before it's too late for the people of Lebanon and the region as a whole," concluded the Israeli Ambassador.

Hezbollah terrorists on Friday morning fired 19 rockets from Lebanon towards Israeli territory.

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.

Friday’s attack came two days after 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 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.