Lebanon and Israel have clashed at a special UN Security Council meeting on the new Middle East crisis with Beirut calling for an international investigation into the 'crime of Qana' and Tel Aviv asking it to end the attacks by Hezbollah.
UNITED NATIONS: Lebanon and Israel have clashed at a special UN Security Council meeting on the new Middle East crisis with Beirut calling for an international investigation into the 'crime of Qana' and Tel Aviv asking it to end the attacks by Hezbollah militia.
Lebanese acting foreign Minister Tarek Mitri decried the recent 'unabated attacks' by Israel and asked for an international investigation into the "crime of Qana" where over 50 civilians were killed this weekend.
"The spilled blood of the children in Qana deserves more, much more, than expressions of regret," he said in an emotional address.
Israeli UN Ambassador Dan Gillerman said it was upto Beirut to act to end the attacks on Israel by the Hezbollah militia, adding Lebanon has become a "hotbed of terrorism in a cesspool of hatred."
To Mitri's call for immediate steps to quell violence, Gillerman claimed that his country is acting self-defense and asked why Lebanon allows Hezbollah to operate.
Mitri called on the Council members "to assist us in putting an end to this human tragedy" and proposed an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire.
This, he said, should be accompanied by a declaration of agreement on releasing all Lebanese and Israeli prisoners and detainees through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The Israeli army should be withdrawn behind the Blue Line and the displaced should return to their villages.
The Security Council, he continued, should commit to placing the Shabaa Farms and Kafr Shuba hills until border delineation and Lebanese sovereignty over them are fully settled.
Further, Israel should surrender all remaining landmine maps covering South Lebanon to the United Nations. The Lebanese Government must extend its authority over its territory through its own legitimate armed forces, Mitri said.
The UN international force operating in South Lebanon, he added, must be enhanced in numbers, equipment, mandate and scope of operation in order to undertake critical humanitarian work and to guarantee stability in the South so that those who fled their homes can return.
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