UN ‘takes note’ of Lebanese president’s ‘war’ warning

The United Nations says it has “taken note” of a warning by Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun that recent Israeli aerial transgressions against the country amount to “declaration of war,” urging both sides to exercise restraint.

Aoun made the remarks on Monday, a day after the incidents, the first of which saw an Israeli drone crashing on the roof of a building housing the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah’s media center and causing severe damage to the facility. Israeli drones attacked Lebanon’s Bakka region near the border with Syria subsequently.

The Lebanese head of state said the incursion “allows us to resort to our right to defending our sovereignty.”

UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the world body calls for "maximum restraint" by all parties “both in action and rhetoric."

"It is imperative for all to avoid an escalation and abide by relevant Security Council resolutions," he added.

Aoun also said Tel Aviv’s assault violated a UN resolution that ended the Israeli regime’s 2006 war on his country.

The war killed around 1,200 Lebanese people, and afflicted considerable damage to the country’s infrastructure. The Israeli regime had staged another major military aggression against the country in 2000.

Hezbollah played a pivotal role in defending Lebanon during both the wars.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah issued a stern caution to Tel Aviv after the recent airspace violations, saying the group would act, from then on, to down transgressing Israeli drones.

SS