ALBAWABA - Lebanon will file a complaint with the UN Security Council in light of the latest series of Israeli attacks that have witnessed a steep rise recently, resulting in human casualties in residential areas, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday.
The ministry urged "the international community to put pressure on Israel to stop its escalating attacks." It also called on Security Council members to "condemn Israeli attacks against Lebanon and fully implement Resolution 1701 (2006) for permanent stability and peace along Lebanon's southern borders".
Commenting on the complaint, Lebanon’s caretaker foreign minister Abdullah Bou Habib said: "The concerning thing is that this escalation occurred in areas far from the southern Lebanese borders, indicating Israel’s desire to expand the conflict and drag the entire region into a war that may start with such aggressive acts and turn into a regional war sought by the Israeli government as a lifeline to escape its internal predicament".
The foreign ministry's statement detailed that "the series of Israeli attacks considered the most violent on March 11 and 12 targeted civilians in residential areas around the city of Baalbek and nearby towns, which led to casualties and injuries among civilians,".
Earlier on Wednesday, an Israeli missile fired from a drone struck a car near the northern entrance to Tyre, near the Rashidiya Palestinian refugee camp, killing Hadi Mustafa, the logistical support officer of Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military arm in Lebanon, and a Syrian man riding a motorcycle beside Mustafa's car.
Hamas stated that Mustafa's mission was to "coordinate with the resistance forces in Lebanon". This is the fourth time Israel has targeted Hamas members in Lebanon.
It is also the first time that the entrance of the city of Tyre, where thousands of displaced people from the southern border area have sought refuge, was targeted. The city is a meeting point for UNIFIL soldiers, Arab News reported.
A security source told Arab News: "The Israeli escalation that moved from southern Lebanon to Baalbek and the surrounding towns, then targeting the entrance to the city of Tyre, aims to break the equations to pursue members of Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad wherever they are".
