The 'Lobby 1701' organization, which represents about 60,000 residents of northern Israel who have ben force to evacuate from their homes and communities over the last three months due to the constant attacks by the Hezbollah and Hamas terrorist organizations from Lebanon, published a letter sent to US President Joe Biden and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan demanding that Israel be allowed to take the necessary action to ensure that these civilians can finally return to their homes, including through military means.
The organization is named for United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which mandates that the Hezbollah terrorist organization be disarmed and the removal of all armed groups from the area south of the Litani River in Lebanon except for the Lebanese army and UNIFIL, the UN's peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon. The resolution has not been enforced since its passing in 2006, and Hezbollah has been allowed to operate south of the river along the border with Israel and to amass an arsenal of about 150,000 rockets and missiles, making it more militarily powerful than many nations.
The letter reads:“We speak in the name of the 60,000 residents of northern Israel who were evacuated from their homes and turned into refugees in their own land. For more than 70 days, we have been ‘living in exile’ due to Hezbollah firing daily at our homes, and the inability of Lebanon to properly implement UNSCR 1701."
It continued: “For 17 years we have had to bear witness to how ineffective UNSCR 1701 is in the face of reality. Hezbollah never acted in accordance with the resolution and openly established military positions on the border — feet away from our homes. Meanwhile, UNIFIL has been providing a false sense of security, while allowing Hezbollah to rearm, prepare and plan its invasion into Israel. This has proven especially true over the past three years.”
“If Lebanon is unable to properly implement UNSCR 1701 to the extent that we deserve and demand, to provide a basic sense of security, we will relentlessly pressure our government to solve this issue through military means, and we request your full support. This is not a threat, nor is it a warning. This is an urgent call for action from the international community to prevent the next massacre," the residents stated.
"No country could accept this current situation, in which a neighboring terrorist organization calls for its destruction and fires towards its citizens. Nor would any father or mother put their children at risk in such a threatening environment.
"Therefore, we feel certain that you understand why we can't return home to the status quo on October 6th and attempt to live a normal life while enduring this threat. The horrific images of October 7th warn us of the future waiting for us if we do.
The residents "call on President Biden to give [his] full support to the government of Israel to act with the necessary force and means to promise our safety and security."
The letter was sent a day before Hezbollah terrorists fired an anti-tank missile at a Greek Orthodox church near Moshav Shomera in the Iqrit area. One civilian was wounded in the attack.
The terrorists fired a second missile at IDF troops who arrived to rescue the wounded civilians, wounding nine of them, one seriously.
This morning (Wednesday), a barrage of 18 rockets was fired from Lebanon at the Rosh Hanikra area of northern Israel. Eight rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.