Israeli fighter jets flew at low altitude over Beirut and other parts of Lebanon Tuesday, for the third day in a row in repeated violations of Lebanese sovereignty and UN Security Council resolutions.
Israeli fighter jets flying over Beirut. If Lebanese fighter jets (which don’t exist because the US denies them to Lebanon) were flying over Tel Aviv, Western correspondents in Beirut would be writing long dispatches about the dangers facing Israel. https://t.co/mEiH0IacIT
— asad abukhalil أسعد أبو خليل (@asadabukhalil) January 11, 2019
In response to the repeated overflights, President Michel Aoun instructed caretaker Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbe to "file an urgent letter to the Security Council... demanding a condemnation of Israeli aggressions and violations of Lebanese sovereignty and Resolution 1701."
Security sources and witnesses said Israeli jets made at least two runs over the capital. Other aircraft, jets and drones, flew over south Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley
Israeli aircraft regularly breach Lebanese sovereignty despite Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended a 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. The Israeli violations have gone unpunished since, despite repeated Lebanese complaints to the world body.
Israel has also used Lebanese airspace to launch raids on targets in Syria.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon says Israel enters Lebanese airspace on a daily basis in violation of UN resolutions and the country’s sovereignty.
Between June and October 2020, UNIFIL recorded a daily average of 12.63 airspace violations, totaling 61 hours and 51 minutes in flight time, a significant increase from the previous four months. Drones accounted for approximately 95 percent of the violations, UNIFIL said.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
