Lebanon files new UN complaint against Israeli attacks on its army

The Foreign Affairs Ministry has instructed Lebanon's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York to submit a new complaint to the Security Council, in response to Israel's continued and deliberate targeting of the Lebanese Army since the start of its offensive in Lebanon on Oct. 8, 2023, according to an official statement.

The complaint details the serious attacks against the army, its posts and vehicles recorded from Nov. 17 to 24, 2024 in the villages of al-Meri, Sarafand, Burj al-Muluk-Qalaa and al-Amiriya, in southern Lebanon. These attacks resulted in the death of 10 soldiers and the wounding of 35 others, some of whom were in critical condition.

Lebanon has already lodged several complaints with the U.N. denouncing Israeli actions against civilians and journalists “in order to document Israeli aggression and hold the international community and the Security Council to account,” he added.

In its complaint, Lebanon calls on the member states of the Security Council to condemn the repeated Israeli attacks against the army and to consider them a flagrant violation of international law, the U.N. Charter and international resolutions, in particular resolution 1701, given that the Lebanese Army “constitutes the main pillar of the implementation of this resolution and of the guarantee of lasting security and stability in South Lebanon.”

“Lebanon stresses that targeting the army seriously undermines current international efforts to achieve a cease-fire, weakens ongoing mediation efforts aimed at stabilizing the region,” the text continues.

Clashes between Hezbollah and Israel, which began on Oct. 8, 2023 following the outbreak of the Gaza war, have killed 3,768 people in Lebanon and wounded a further 15,699, the majority since the clashes escalated into open warfare late last summer.