Israel protests to UN over Lebanon rocket attack
Israel on Friday protested to the United Nations over the firing of rockets from Lebanon which it said highlighted the availability and use of arms in the neighbouring country.
Three rockets were fired into northern Lebanon on Thursday, injuring two women and sparking a new military alert as Israel fights a major offensive in Gaza aiming to halt militant rocket attacks by Hamas fighters into southern Israel.
The Israeli government believes radical Palestinians angered by Israel”s offensive in Gaza fired the rockets. Hamas and the Hezbollah group in Lebanon denied involvement.
The foreign ministry said it had instructed UN ambassador Gabriela Shalev to send a protest letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the UN Security Council over the rocket attack.
"Ambassador Shalev noted in the letter that the firing of rockets constitutes a gross violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701 and confirms Israel”s contentions regarding the availability and use of weapons in southern Lebanon," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Resolution 1701 set out conditions for an end to Israel”s war in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah in the summer of 2006.
"Israel must protect its citizens from the growing threat of rockets being fired by terrorist groups supported by Iran and the extremist axis."
It said the rockets "reinforces Israel”s demands to establish effective mechanisms to prevent arms smuggling into Lebanon. The prevention of arms smuggling — in Lebanon as in Gaza — is a vital element in achieving regional stability, as expressed among others in Resolution 1701."
The ministry said the Lebanese government had to maintain "quiet in southern Lebanon" and prevent "the smuggling of weapons into its territory."