H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon
Secretary General
United Nations
Room S3800
New York, N.Y. 10017
16 July 2009
Excellency,
I write to inform you that on Tuesday, 14 July 2009, a series of explosions ripped through a weapons cache in Khirbat Salim, a Shiite village located north-east of Tibnin, Lebanon.
The explosions - which lasted from early morning until approximately 15:00 - took place under an abandoned civilian house on the outskirts of the village. The house in question was, in fact, an arms cache that consisted of Hezbollah arms, including rockets, mortars, artillery shells, grenades, and additional ammunition which had been brought to the area following the Second Lebanon War. The smuggling and presence of such weapons stands in direct contravention of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which explicitly distinguishes the area between the Blue Line and the Litani River as “[an] area free of any armed personnel, assets, and weapons, other than those of the Government of Lebanon and of UNIFIL.”
This incident in Khirbat Salim verifies Israel’s repeated claims since the adoption of resolution 1701 that Hezbollah continues to build its military infrastructure throughout Lebanon, including south of the Litani River. As Israel mentioned in multiple previous letters and statements to the Secretary-General and the Security Council - including in my most recent letter dated 15 June 2009 - Hezbollah adapted its modus operandi by placing most of its arsenal in civilian villages and using houses as bunkers and arms depots. Such actions on the part of Hezbollah are a clear violation of 1701 which gravely endanger the stability in the region. Furthermore, it is extremely alarming that Hezbollah intentionally places its weapons in close proximity to civilians and thus endangers the local Lebanese civilian population.
Excellency,
In addition to the aforementioned arms smuggling, a secondary and equally severe violation of resolution 1701 took place during the incident. In the aftermath of the Khirbat Salim explosions, a UN spokesperson confirmed that civilians attempted to hamper UNIFIL’s investigation. Other credible reports note that the Lebanese Armed Forces delayed the deployment of UNIFIL to conduct an investigation into the circumstances of the incident. Both Israel and reports in the Lebanese press suggest that this delay was used by Hezbollah operatives to remove evidence of their illicit activity before UNIFIL was permitted to inspect the area.
This is a severe violation of resolution 1701 as paragraph 12 “authorizes UNIFIL to take all necessary action in areas of deployment of its forces and as it deems within its capabilities, to ensure that its area of operations is not utilized for hostile activities of any kind, to resist attempts by forceful means to prevent it from discharging its duties under the mandate of the Security Council, and to protect United Nations personnel, facilities, installations and equipment, ensure the security and freedom of movement of United Nations personnel, humanitarian workers and, without prejudice to the responsibility of the Government of Lebanon, to protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence.”
The obstruction following the explosion of 14 July reflects one of the most severe obstructions of movement against UNIFIL since the adoption of resolution 1701.
Unfortunately, such an obstruction is not an isolated incident and reflects a pattern in which Hezbollah uses various means - including so-called ‘civilians’ - in order to prevent UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces from fulfilling their mandate. Other incidents of obstruction on 31 March 2008 and on 16 January 2009 are two additional examples of such non-compliance with resolution 1701. However, the most recent obstruction is all the more severe as UNIFIL was unable to immediately implement its obligations. As such, this obstruction of movement must be denounced.
Excellency,
The 14 July explosion is a reflection of the larger efforts by Hezbollah to rearm itself in direct contravention of resolution 1701 and other relevant UN Security Council resolutions. In this regard, Syrian and Iranian efforts to supply Hezbollah’s arsenal are endangering the stability of the region and must be confronted by concrete actions on both the Lebanese-Syrian border, as well as by the international community. Despite the fact that almost one year has passed since the publication of the LIBAT II report, no action has yet been taken to address the porous eastern border of Lebanon.
Furthermore, Hezbollah openly admits its efforts to grow and bolster its arsenal. As I wrote in the aforementioned letter to the Secretary-General regarding the implementation of resolution 1701, as recently as 13 May 2009, Sheikh Naim Qassem, the Deputy
Secretary-General of Hezbollah , stated in an interview to the Financial Times:
We do not talk about details of our arsenal. This is our strength. Not talking, this is our strength against our enemy. But what I will say here is that we will not deny but we will not confirm that we have three or four times the arsenal that we had in 2006 as they [Israelis] say.
In addition, it is worthy to note that one of the closest individuals to Hezbollah Secretary-General Nasrallah, Mr. Ibrahim al-Amin, wrote in Al Akbar newspaper four days ago on 13 July 2009 that: “The resistance (Hezbollah) has become a fully fledged army [sic]. Its knowledge of the security, military, and logistic fields have expanded, so did its equipment which great few folds in terms of quality and quantity and the weaponry it was not allowed to keep in the past, now its keeping abundantly [sic].”
Excellency,
The explosion in Khirbat Salim coupled with Hezbollah’s stated intentions to maintain and build its terrorist arsenal should be a grave cause for concern. The fact that Hezbollah seeks to reconstitute itself south of the Litani River whilst embedding itself into the civilian population only heightens this concern.
As Israel has mentioned several times, UNIFIL and LAF must adapt their modus operandi south of the Litani River to confront this new reality. The Lebanese government must do more to prevent the rearmament of Hezbollah by taking concrete steps against Hezbollah’s efforts to create a military infrastructure in Lebanese villages south of the Litani River. Ongoing Syrian and Iranian efforts to support and arm Hezbollah must also be addressed in concrete terms. All of these flagrant violations of resolution 1701 - including arms smuggling and the obstruction of movement of UNIFIL forces - merit the appropriate attention and response by the Secretary-General and the Security Council.
Finally, I wish to take this opportunity to request a copy of the findings of the investigation conducted by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) into the 14 July 2009 explosion.
I should be grateful if you would have this letter distributed as an official document of the Security Council. An identical letter has been sent to H.E. Mr. Ruhakana Rugunda, President of the Security Council.
Allow me, Excellency, to renew to you the assurances of my highest consideration.
Yours truly,
Gabriela Shalev
Ambassador
Permanent Representative
* * *
20 July 2009
Excellency,
Following my letter dated 16 July 2009, I wish to draw your attention to two additional severe violations of resolution 1701 that only exacerbates the incident that took place in Khirbat Slim on 14 July 2009.
During the first incident - on 17 July 2009 - fifteen Lebanese civilians crossed the Blue Line near a UNIFIL position adjacent to the Shuba village. The group penetrated 175 meters into Israeli territory and planted there Hezbollah and Lebanese flags. These individuals subsequently returned across the Blue Line back into Lebanese territory.
During this incident, UNIFIL refrained from taking any action to prevent the crossing of these individuals into Israeli territory. Some of the organizers of this violation even claimed that they had coordinated their actions with UNIFIL. In that regard, in an interview on 17 July 2009 on Lebanese NTV with Mr. Qassem Hashem - a member of Lebanese parliament and one of the organizers of the illegal action - offered the dubious claim that the their actions were coordinated with the relevant authorities, including UNIFIL. In any case, given the proximity of the violation to a UNIFIL position, Israel would have expected that UNIFIL intervene in time to prevent this violation.
Excellency,
Such violations jeopardize the fragile stability along Israel’s northern border and stand in contravention of UN Security Council resolution 1701, in particular paragraph 8 that calls for “full respect for the Blue Line by both parties.” The aforementioned incident is another clear reminder that there are elements in Lebanon that seek to undermine resolution 1701 and the stability of the region.
Israel calls upon the government of Lebanon to exercise its authority and prevent such violations of the Blue Line that endanger the stability along our mutual border. In addition, Israel calls upon the Secretary-General to exercise his influence and to ensure that UNIFIL will prevent any future incidents from occurring.
Excellency,
Another serious incident took place in Khirbat Slim over the weekend in which fourteen peacekeepers of UNIFIL were injured by so-called Lebanese “civilians” after attempting to search a suspicious house in this area. UNIFIL vehicles were also damaged during the incident.
This severe episode - in the same place where an arms cache of the terrorist organization Hezbollah exploded on 14 July 2009 - verifies that Hezbollah consistently obstructs the implementation of resolution 1701 by building new military infrastructure south of the Litani River, and by preventing UNIFIL from fulfilling its mandate, including by using civilians in a violent manner to obstruct UNIFIL’s mission. The presence of arms in southern Lebanon, as well as this obstruction of movement, reflects a pattern that must be confronted. In order to ensure that the area south of the Litani River is indeed “[an] area free of any armed personnel, assets, and weapons, other than those of the Government of Lebanon and of UNIFIL,” the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL must readapt their activity to the new reality in which Hezbollah is rebuilding its military infrastructure south of the Litani River within the civilian population.
I should be grateful if you would have this letter distributed as an official document of the Security Council. An identical letter has been sent to H.E. Mr. Ruhakana Rugunda, President of the Security Council.
Allow me, Excellency, to renew to you the assurances of my highest consideration.
Yours truly,
Gabriela Shalev
Ambassador
Permanent Representative