Lebanon hits back at Israel, defends Hezbollah at UN Human Rights Council session

Beirut has strongly reacted to the Israeli envoy’s interventionist remarks against Hezbollah at a UN Human Rights Council session, describing the resistance movement as an “inseparable part” of Lebanon and slamming the regime’s history of rights violations in Lebanon and other Arab states.

The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants issued a statement on Monday in condemnation of the comments by Merav Marks, the legal counselor to the Israeli mission to the UN and international organizations in Geneva, who had attacked the Hezbollah resistance movement for its role in Lebanon during a general debate at the 45th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

The Israeli envoy accused the UN Human Rights Council of not dealing with what she called Hezbollah’s efforts to hamper the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and attempts to manipulate the Lebanese government.

In its statement, the ministry said Lebanon’s Permanent Mission to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva exercised its “right to respond to the Israeli enemy’s envoy, as has been the case whenever there is an attack on Lebanon and its right to resistance.”

The ministry then described Israel as “an occupation force armed with sophisticated weapons and in possession of a nuclear arsenal, with which it threatens its neighbors.”

Israel" has a history of flagrant human rights violations and international crimes in Lebanon and in other Arab lands that it has occupied. The international community should one day fulfill its duty to prosecute the perpetrators… Today we are marking the 38th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, one of the ugliest crimes against humanity in modern history,” the statement pointed out.

“Lebanon stresses its right to resistance to liberate its land and defend its sovereignty,” the ministry said, underlining that Hezbollah resistance movement is “an inseparable part” of Lebanon.

The ministry also lashed out at the Israeli envoy over her remarks regarding last month’s deadly Beirut port explosion, which killed some 200 people, wounded thousands more and ravaged buildings in surrounding residential neighborhoods.

The Israeli envoy had tried to link Hezbollah to the blast, claiming the movement was putting the interests of Iran before that of its own nation, and that the explosion “is a clear demonstration of that.”

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry said in response that “the Occupation (Israeli) force has sought to put itself in the position of the Lebanese judicial authority in the issue of the port blast, in which investigations have not yet been completed.”

“The hypothesis of a foreign plot should not be ruled out, and in this case, this (Israeli) force will be the main suspect,” it added.

Aoun: Impossible that Beirut blast was caused by Hezbollah arms

Lebanese President Michel Aoun says it is “impossible” that a recent deadly explosion in Beirut was triggered by a blast from a deposit of arms belonging to the Hezbollah resistance movement.

The explosion has been followed by other upheavals in the country, including thousands-strong rallies and the resignation of the entire government of former prime minister Hasan Diab.

Hezbollah has called for accountability for the explosion, while strongly urging countrywide unity and integrity.

Wary of Hezbollah’s power in defending Lebanon, the Israeli regime and its allies have been doing all in their power — from sanctions to targeted killings — to undermine the movement’s political and military influence in the Arab country.

Israel’s continuous overflights in violation of UNSC resolution, Lebanon’s sovereignty: UNIFIL

The UN slams Israel’s continuous breaches of Lebanon

The regime has, in recent months, stepped up its violations of Lebanese airspace in spying missions on southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah is mainly based, drawing condemnations from Beirut, Hezbollah and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

The resistance movement was established following the 1982 Israeli invasion and occupation of southern Lebanon.  Since then, the movement has grown into a powerful military force, dealing repeated blows to the Israeli military, including during a 33-day war in July 2006.

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