Netanyahu Blames Lebanese Government over Rocket Fire
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said Israel held the Lebanese government responsible for rocket fire from its territory, following the latest attacks from southern Lebanon into the Jewish state.
"We consider that the Lebanese government as the one responsible for this," Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, in reference to Friday”s attacks.
"We see the Lebanese government as the one responsible for all (ceasefire) violations and all aggressions coming from its territory against us," he said.
Israel has lodged a complaint with the U.N. over Friday”s attacks, which saw several rockets fired into the north of the Jewish state from southern Lebanon, prompting retaliatory fire from Israel. No casualties were reported on either side.
An official with the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said extremists tied to Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon may have been behind the latest attacks from the Hizbullah-controlled south of the country.
Outgoing Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Saniora said on Friday that "this incident aims to provoke tension and drag Lebanon into a crisis situation," calling it "an attack on Lebanon and its sovereignty."
Hizbullah and Israel fought a 34-day war in July-August 2006, which killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians and more than 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.
The war ended with U.N. resolution 1701, which among others demanded the disarming of all militant groups in Lebanon including Hizbullah, and an end to arms smuggling across its borders.