Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon stated that Israel's military actions to stop Hezbollah's rocket attacks were necessitated by the failure of diplomacy to disarm Hezbollah south of the Litani River under previous agreements and UN resolutions.
"Overnight, Israel expanded the forward defense area in southern Lebanon. This step was taken to remove immediate terrorist threats near our border and create an additional layer of security for the residents of northern Israel," Danon said at a press briefing this morning (Monday).
He emphasized: "Israel did not choose this situation. Hezbollah did. For weeks, Hezbollah has been launching rockets at Israeli communities from southern Lebanon. It has been doing so from areas where it is not supposed to be present at all."
Danon questioned the UN's continued focus on diplomacy when Hezbollah has failed to abide by any diplomatic agreements until now. "On Friday, last week, during his visit to Lebanon, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said, and I quote, 'There is no military solution, only diplomacy and dialogue.' Israel supports diplomacy, but diplomacy only works when agreements are enforced. Under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, Hezbollah is not supposed to operate south of the Litani River. That area was meant to be free of Hezbollah weapons. Yet Hezbollah is operating there. Hezbollah is firing from there. And the Lebanese government has not taken sufficient action to stop it."
"Diplomatic commitments were made only last November. They were not enforced. When rockets continue to be fired from areas that were supposed to be free of weapons, Israel cannot sit back and pretend that diplomacy is working," he said.
Danon accused Hezbollah of "indiscriminate fire" in its rocket attacks, while using civilians as human shields. "That is their method: Launch rockets at Israeli communities, hide behind civilians, and then blame Israel."
He called on the Lebanese government to "step up" and fulfill its obligations to confront Hezbollah and stop the terrorist organization from repeatedly dragging Lebanon into conflicts with Israel. "Lebanon must restrain Hezbollah now, or we will."
During the briefing, Danon presented a map showing that 213 rockets were launched by Hezbollah at Israel in just 16 hours, all from southern Lebanon south of the Litani River, in blatant violation of Security Council Resolution 1701.
The map that was presented highlights the scope of the firing and Hezbollah's systematic violation of UN resolutions. At the same time, Israel is working to expand its buffer defense area following ongoing threats on the northern border.
Danon said: "213 rockets in 16 hours prove that Hezbollah continues to fire freely from south of the Litani in clear violation of UN resolutions. Israel is working to remove the threat of terrorism from its border and expand its defense area to protect its citizens."