Lebanon condemns ‘systematic’ Israeli destruction in south

BEIRUT - Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam on Aug 12 condemned Israel’s “systematic destruction” in the country’s south as a violation of international law, as Israel’s defence minister said its military was “destroying all the houses” there.

Salam said Israeli “attacks, incursions, demolitions and the systematic destruction of homes”, infrastructure, government buildings and places of worship “represent a serious violation of the principles and rules of international law and international humanitarian law”.

Claiming that villages and towns “are entirely ‘military facilities’ does not stand up to any logic and cannot be used as an excuse for destroying them, displacing their inhabitants and preventing them from returning”, he said in a statement.

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz visited southern Lebanon on Aug 12, vowing to keep troops in a so-called “security zone” there and saying the Israeli military was “destroying the underground infrastructure” in the area and “destroying all the houses”.

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war in March by attacking Israel, which responded with heavy airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanese authorities say have killed more than 4,300 people.

A framework deal reached in late June between Lebanon and Israel involves the disarmament of the Iran-backed group, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in “pilot zones”.

When asked about Katz’s remarks, a US State Department official responded that the United States “expects all parties to act in a manner consistent with the Framework they agreed to, and Israel clearly stated that it has no territorial ambitions in Lebanon.

“A permanent military presence in South Lebanon is not consistent with the commitments made in the Framework, or the long-term peace and security of both states,” he said in an email to AFP.

While violence has significantly decreased since the signing of a US-Iran memorandum of understanding in June and the Lebanon-Israel deal, Lebanon still reports intermittent Israeli strikes and ongoing demolitions.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) on Aug 12 said Israeli troops carried out detonations in southern villages, including Zawtar al-Shariqya, which abuts one of the “pilot zones”.

Lebanon’s army said Israel had blown up “the municipal building in Zawtar al-Shariqya” as well as “a public school, a health clinic, a children’s nursery and a number of homes”.

Also on Aug 12, Lebanon’s army chief Rodolphe Haykal met visiting US General Joseph Clearfield, who heads a coordination group involved with the June agreement.

The pair discussed “developments in the south and security arrangements” relating to the deal, the Lebanese military said, as well as “the difficulties the army faces in carrying out its missions, primarily due to the continuing attacks, bulldozing and destruction by the Israeli occupation”.

President Joseph Aoun also met Clearfield, his office said, and discussed the implementation of the framework deal.

Israel and Lebanon are to hold an eighth round of US-sponsored negotiations in September in Rome. AFP