The United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert. (Photo published by the U.N.)
Hezbollah on Friday denounced the briefing by the United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, before the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday, criticizing her for taking "biased positions in favor of the Israeli enemy."
Hezbollah said it "registers its strong disapproval of the content of the briefing ... and denounces positions that are aligned with those of the Israeli enemy," which it considers "fundamentally at odds with the role assigned to the United Nations and its officials." "It is therefore highly surprising that Plasschaert ... has come to express biased positions in favor of the Israeli enemy, harming Lebanon’s interests and the security of its citizens," Hezbollah said in its statement.
The U.N. coordinator for Lebanon, who had visited Israel a week prior, lamented that Hezbollah had "stoked the embers that have now plunged Lebanon into the flames" by launching rockets towards Israel on March 2. She regretted that this ended the "initial hopes of seeing Lebanon spared from the fires engulfing the region" after the outbreak on Feb. 28 of the war against Iran, led by the United States and Israel.
"Lebanon must urgently focus on what can be done internally, including the development of a comprehensive roadmap to address the future of Hezbollah," she argued, adding that this should not only "encompass the party’s weapons, but also its financial networks and social infrastructure," according to a statement posted on X by the United Nations.
Welcoming "the Lebanese state’s openness" to direct negotiations with Israel, she also asserted that "across all sectors, religious communities and political affiliations, there is [in Lebanon] a clear willingness to abandon armed resistance in favor of governance." In her briefing, Plasschaert did not mention the Israeli attacks that followed Hezbollah's rocket attacks.
According to the latest figures from Lebanese authorities released Friday, Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed 1,021 people since March 2, including 118 children, and wounded 2,641 others, including 370 children. The Israeli offensive has also led to the forced displacement of over a million people.
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