U.S. blocks U.N. Security Council statement on Israel, Lebanon – report

The US opposed the fact that the statement failed to specifically condemn Hezbollah and that it put Israel's right of self-determination on an equal footing with the terrorist group.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A U.N peacekeeper of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) walks near a poster depicting Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (photo credit: REUTERS)
A U.N peacekeeper of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) walks near a poster depicting Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The United States blocked a statement about the recent tensions between Israel and Hezbollah by the United Nations Security Council, the AFP reported on Thursday.
 
According to the report, the statement drafted by France stated that "members of the security council condemned all violations of the Blue Line, both by air and ground, and strongly calls upon all parties to respect the cessation of hostilities."
 
Diplomatic sources told the AFP that the US opposed the fact that the statement failed to specifically condemn Hezbollah and that it put Israel's right of self-determination on an equal footing with the terrorist group.
Earlier this week, Hezbollah and Israel exchanged blows along the Lebanese border in a retaliative attempt by the Iranian-backed guerrilla organization to exact a price from Israel for the bombing of a terror cell in Syria late in August.
While no IDF troops were injured, Israel fired over a hundred artillery shells toward targets in south Lebanon in response to the attack.
 
All UN Security Council statements need to be approved by the entire 15 members council, which include the five permanent members – the US, the UK, France, Russia, and China – and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly.
The latest currently include Belgium, Germany, Poland, Côte d'Ivoire, South Africa, Indonesia, Kuwait, Equatorial Guinea, Dominican Republic and Peru.

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Several countries did not agree on the language suggested by the US, according to AFP. The statement was eventually abandoned.