2023-12-18 16:29:15
Israeli artillery shelling continued today, Monday, on several border towns in southern Lebanon, without any casualties reported.
The official Lebanese News Agency reported that an Israeli artillery bombardment “targeted the outskirts of the towns of Aita al-Shaab, Al-Jebin, and Al-Dhahira, the Labouneh area, Al-Tabasin, and the outskirts of Naqoura in the western sector, southern Lebanon.”
The agency reported that since 8:30 a.m. today (local time), the outskirts of the town of Aitaroun have been subjected to intermittent enemy (Israeli) artillery shelling coming from enemy positions inside the occupied Palestinian territories (northern Israel).
The agency indicated that Israeli reconnaissance aircraft “flew this morning, over the villages of the western and central sectors, all the way to the Litani River.”
She pointed out that the Israeli army “continued its attacks at night until approximately ten o’clock, as it intermittently bombed the outskirts of the town of Aita al-Shaab, and enemy flares illuminated the sky of the region, all the way to the town of Mansouri.”
On the other hand, the official Hebrew Broadcasting Corporation reported that “sirens sounded in northern Israel,” without further details.
An Arab TRT correspondent from Labouneh monitors the latest field developments on the southern Lebanon front amid the continued exchange of bombing between the Israeli army and Lebanese Hezbollah. pic.twitter.com/QuLIfJxMgV
— TRT عربي (@TRTArabi) December 17, 2023
‘Unnecessary war’
In this context, the Israeli army said that Hezbollah’s violations of UN Resolution 1701 made it “null and void,” adding that the party was “dragging Lebanon into an unnecessary war.”
This came in a statement by the Israeli army spokesman, Daniel Hagari.
Hagari said: “Hezbollah, which is Iran’s proxy, is dragging Lebanon into an unnecessary war, which would have dire consequences for the Lebanese people.”
He added: “This is a war they do not deserve.”
Hagari explained, “The facts on the ground speak for themselves. Hezbollah’s violations of United Nations Resolution No. 1701 have made it null and void.”
On August 11, 2006, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution No. 1701, which called for a complete cessation of hostilities between Lebanon and Israel, and called for the creation of an area between the Blue Line (separating Lebanon and Israel) and the Litani River, south of Lebanon, free of any militants. Military equipment and weapons, except those belonging to the Lebanese Armed Forces and the United Nations “UNIFIL” forces.
From 2006 until the beginning of October 2023, the southern border witnessed great stability despite limited violations. Hezbollah did not show a public military presence amid talk of the existence of tunnels and hideouts for it.
But since Hezbollah entered the Gaza war line on October 8, by bombing Israeli military sites on the border with Lebanon, and Tel Aviv responded violently to southern towns, fears have increased regarding the possibility of an “all-out war” between the two countries.
In recent days, political circles in Lebanon have increasingly talked regarding the possibility of amending Resolution 1701 to represent a way out of the current tension on the border, but those familiar with the course of events in the country indicate that amending the resolution is out of the question.
TRT Arabic – Agencies
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