(Communicated by the MFA Spokesman)
Following the explosion of the Hizbullah weapons depot yesterday near the town of Tyre in south Lebanon, Israel's Ambassador to the UN Prof. Gabriella Shalev submitted an urgent complaint to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and to the President of the UN Security Council,Vietnamese Ambassador Le Luong Minh, regarding the severe violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701. Ambassador Shalev stated that this is the second explosion of a Hizbullah weapons depot in three months, proving once again that the organization is stockpiling illegal weapons south of the Litani River and is renewing its military infrastructure in the region.
The Israeli complaint clarifies that Hizbullah is storing weapons in villages occupied by civilians, is using the residents as human shields, and is concealing evidence - as it did in the last episode, when the organization transported military equipment immediately after the explosion to an adjacent village.
Israel's complaint states that "Elements in the Lebanese army deliberately turn a blind eye to the renewal of Hizbullah's infrastructure in southern Lebanon" and that "Israel holds the government of Lebanon responsible for all activity that takes place within its territory, and therefore expects it to take decisive measures in order to stop the rearmament of Hizbullah south of the Litani River." Ambassador Shalev demanded that UNIFIL initiate an urgent enquiry into the recent incident and provide the relevant parties with their conclusions.
Prof. Shalev added that Israel expects that these incidents, as well as Hizbullah's rearmament in south Lebanon, receive appropriate attention in the UN Security Council and the report on the implementation of resolution 170, due at the end of this month: "The Security Council should also address key issues related to the implementation of resolution 1701, including the rearmament of Hizbullah and the unimplemented arms embargo on Lebanon."