‘israel’ working on excuses to attack Lebanon: FM
Lebanon’s acting Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil says Israel is trying to create excuses to attack the country having forgotten its defeat versus the Lebanese forces.
“Here is Israel, again coming up with excuses to justify assault and preparing to violate the sovereignty of states using the platform of [the UN],” Bassil tweeted on Thursday. “It forgot that Lebanon drove [Israel] out, defeated its aggression and is oblivious that its arrogance and new friendships won’t benefit it again,” he added.
The comments came in response to a controversial speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu, known for his dramatic addresses on the stage, used the speech to allege that the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah was using “hidden missile sites” near Rafik Hariri International Airport in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
He held up a picture, as he would during his previous speeches to the Assembly, claiming that it showed the location of the sites.
“In Lebanon, Iran is directing Hezbollah to build secret sites to convert inaccurate projectiles into precision-guided missiles, missiles that can target deep inside Israel within an accuracy of 10 meters,” the Israeli premier purported, echoing numerous similar claims by Tel Aviv.
Lebanon and Israel are technically at war due to the latter’s occupation of the country’s Shebaa Farms since 1967.
Hezbollah was founded in the 1980s following the Israeli invasion and occupation of southern Lebanon.
Since its establishment, the movement has helped the army defend Lebanon both in the face of foreign aggression, including wholesale Israeli wars in 2000 and 2006, and against terrorism. The Israeli regime suffered a humiliating defeat during the second war.
