DUBAI, Aug 4, (Agencies): Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday slammed Israel for its “aggression” on Lebanon, a day after a border clash between Lebanese and Israeli soldiers in which four people were killed.
The UAE condemned “Israel’s aggression on the Lebanese army in south Lebanon as a flagrant infringement and blatant violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701,” which ended a Hezbollah-Israel war in 2006, the official news agency WAM said.
Senior foreign ministry official Sultan al-Ali, quoted by WAM, called for respect for Resolution 1701 “to avoid any repercussions that impact security and stability in the region.”
Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Al-Sabah also condemned what he termed “Israeli aggression on the Lebanese army” and expressed solidarity with Lebanon, the official Kuwaiti news agency KUNA reported.
Yemen, meanwhile, accused Israel of “blatant aggression.”
The head of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, also “strongly condemned” the Israeli “aggression against Lebanon,” expressing his support for “Lebanon and its people in their legitimate defence of their borders.”
Ihsanoglu called Tuesday’s incident “a dangerous escalation that would destabilise the region.”
The head of the world’s largest grouping of Muslims also appealed to “the (UN) Security Council and international community to condemn Israeli violations of the territory and airspace of Lebanon.”
On Tuesday, Gulf Cooperation Council head Abdulrahman Al-Attiyah said the “Israeli aggression on the Lebanese army” was incompatible with the UN charter and international law, in a statement on the GCC’s website.
The GCC groups Kuwait and the UAE with Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Sheikh Dr Mohammad, in a telephone contact with his Lebanese counterpart, Ali Al-Shami, affirmed the State of Kuwait full support for brotherly Lebanon in its defense of national territories, maintaining its sovereignty and safety of the people.
The minister renewed Kuwait’s condemnation of the Israeli attack on Lebanese Army troops that resulted in the death of three military personnel and injury of others.
The two ministers discussed the attack and its dangerous repercussions on regional peace and security, as well as coordination to face “such Israeli offensives at international quarters,” according to a statement released by the Foreign Ministry.
They agreed on manifesting common stances, in this respect, at the United Nations “and within the framework of bilateral relations with the great states that sponsor the peace process in the region.”
Al-Shami expressed gratitude to Sheikh Mohammad and deep satisfaction for Kuwait’s continuous backing for Lebanon.
Meanwhile, National Assembly Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi condemned Wednesday the attack launched by Israeli forces on the Lebanese troops stationing on the southern borders of the sisterly Republic of Lebanon in what led to the fall of a number of victims, describing the attack as “flagrant and provocative.”
This came during a cable of condolences sent by Speaker Al-Khorafi to the Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri following receiving the news of the attack launched by the Israeli forces on the Lebanese southern borders and the fall of victims from the Lebanese side.
Al-Khorafi said in his cable, “I have followed with extreme regret and resentment, while being abroad, what was reported by news agencies on the treacherous attempt to tamper with the security of the sisterly Republic of Lebanon represented by the flagrant attack of the Israeli forces on the Lebanese troops on the southern borders in a blatant disregard to international laws and in what led to the killing of some Lebanese soldiers and the injury of others.”
He added that, “I along with my associates of the members of the Kuwait National Assembly, strongly condemn such provocative acts that are occasionally carried out by the Israeli forces and are condemned by the international community as a whole, praying God to rest in peace the souls of those soldiers who sacrificed themselves for Lebanon.”
Impotent
Lebanese media on Wednesday lashed out at the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, calling it an “impotent” bystander after the previous day’s deadly border skirmish between Lebanese and Israeli forces.
“The impotent international forces beat a retreat, left the place of combat and watched the unfolding events from afar,” said the daily As-Safir, which is close to the Shiite movement Hezbollah.
UNIFIL had asked its soldiers only to “make a show of arms ... against enemy forces,” the newspaper said. It had “encouraged (the enemy) with its reticence, without effectively intervening to prevent the Israeli aggression,” the newspaper alleged.
Lebanese and Israeli troops traded deadly fire on their tense border Tuesday in the worst clash since the 2006 war between the Jewish state and the Shiite Hezbollah. Two Lebanese soldiers, a Lebanese journalist and a senior Israeli officer were killed.
The Al-Anwar daily mocked the multinational force, saying it “fulfills its role perfectly” when things are calm.
“But ... when confrontations flare it is only a simple spectator, which contacts the two parties to try to restore calm and then submits a report to the Security Council,” the newspaper said.
Daily An-Nahar daily said: “The question is, what to do if the incident is repeated ... in particular regarding the claimed role of UNIFIL.”
“Why did UNIFIL not help the army, at least by offering first aid?” it questioned, citing senior sources involved in calming the border tension.
It said an organisation such as UNIFIL was “obliged to deal with the evacuation of casualties.”
On Tuesday, Hezbollah-run Al-Manar television aired images of two Indonesian soldiers, presumably from UNIFIL, leaving the site of the skirmish in a shared taxi.
New TV, which also sympathises with Hezbollah, spoke of the “escape” of UNIFIL soldiers.
The UN force urged “maximum restraint” following the clashes along the so-called Blue Line, a UN-drawn border.
Firefight
In another report, the UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon said on Wednesday Israeli soldiers were operating inside Israel when a deadly firefight broke out with Lebanese troops in the most serious border violence since a 2006 war.
A day after a senior Israeli officer, two Lebanese soldiers and a Lebanese journalist were killed in a rare skirmish that raised fears of wider conflict, Israel’s military appeared keen to show it would not be deterred from activity in the area.
There was no repeat of the clashes when the Israeli army moved a crane back into the tense frontier zone to complete a tree-pruning mission that had drawn Lebanese army fire.
Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which stayed out of the fighting, vowed to “cut off the hand” of Israel if it attacked the army again. But its leader doubted the incident would spark a war.
In a diplomatic boost for Israel, the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) said Israeli soldiers were inside Israeli territory when the border clashes erupted.
“UNIFIL established ... that the trees being cut by the Israeli army are located south of the Blue Line on the Israeli side,” said UNIFIL military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Naresh Bhatt, referring to a border line drawn by the United Nations after Israeli troops withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000.
A three-way meeting between the Lebanese and Israeli armies and UNIFIL was due to take place on Wednesday night.
Tuesday’s violence began after Israel soldiers used a crane to reach over a frontier fence to trim a tree whose branches, the Israeli military said, were tripping the fence’s electronic anti-infiltration devices. It said its soldiers had stayed within Israel and the tree was south of the Blue Line.
Lebanese Information Minister Tareq Mitri acknowledged that the area was south of the line, but said it was still Lebanese territory. Israel and Lebanon dispute parts of the Blue Line.
Travel
Meanwhile, Canada has warned its nationals to avoid non-essential travel to Lebanon following a deadly exchange of fire between Lebanese and Israeli troops along the two countries’ common border.
Without mentioning the clash, which left four dead, the foreign ministry warned Tuesday that the situation in Lebanon “remains fragile.”
“Heightened tensions throughout the region, together with increased threats globally from terrorism, put Canadians at greater risk,” it said.
It advised Canadians not to travel south of the Litani River, particularly to areas near the border with Israel, because “tensions remain high” despite a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in August 2006.
Canadians also were urged to avoid certain areas of the southern Lebanese city of Tripoli “prone to intercommunity violence” and Palestinian refugee camps “as the security situation in these areas remains very tense.”
It told Canadians to expect their government’s aid in leaving the country only “as a last resort,” if commercial travel options have been exhausted.
“Situations vary from one location to another, and there may be constraints on government resources, which can limit the ability of the government of Canada to provide assistance, particularly in countries or regions where the potential for violent conflict or political instability are high,” it said.
Ottawa had to evacuate 15,000 Canadians from Lebanon in 2006 when war broke out between Israel and the Shiite Hezbollah militia.
More than 165,000 Canadians are of Lebanese origin, according to Canada’s 2006 census.
Attacked
In another development, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, speaking after a border clash between Lebanese and Israeli troops, said on Tuesday his group would not stand silent if Israel attacked the Lebanese army in the future.
“I say honestly, that in any place where the Lebanese army will be assaulted and there’s a presence for the resistance, and it is capable, the resistance will not stand silent, or quiet or restrained,” Nasrallah said.
“The Israeli hand that targets the Lebanese army will be cut off,” he told tens of thousands of supporters via video link.
Nasrallah was speaking at a ceremony marking the fourth anniversary of the end of the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah war during which 1,200 people in Lebanon and 158 Israelis were killed.
Three Lebanese and an Israeli officer were killed in Tuesday’s clash, the most serious violence along the border since the 2006 war which erupted after Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid.
Nasrallah said his fighters, who maintain a stronghold in southern Lebanon, were ready to fight alongside the Lebanese army but that they put themselves at the army’s disposal.
“We were ready to fight and defend ... but the wisdom, interest and loyalty meant that the resistance put itself at the disposal of the army which was dealing with the confrontation,” he said.
Nasrallah said he did not think Tuesday’s clash would lead to a bigger conflict on the Lebanese-Israeli border. “I don’t expect a war to happen soon ... but there are reasons for worry,” he said.
Nasrallah, whose group came under scrutiny after reports that a UN tribunal may indict some members for the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, accused Israel of killing the statesman.
He said he would reveal important information about Israel’s role in the assassination at a news conference on Monday.