United Nations Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee told an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Monday that Israel’s push into Lebanon violates Lebanon’s territorial integrity and the 2006 council resolution requiring Israel to withdraw south of the UN-drawn border with Lebanon.

Pobee also accused Hezbollah of violating the resolution, which requires the terror group to disarm, and said the ultimate objective is “a durable, permanent ceasefire adhered to by all sides.”

“The situation in Lebanon is deeply alarming,” Pobee said in a statement about the meeting on the UN website.

France had called for the meeting, citing the escalating violence in Lebanon, its foreign ministry said in a statement.

“It is Hezbollah, supported by Iran, that bears responsibility for the outbreak of hostilities,” France said at the meeting.

While recognizing Israel’s right to defend itself, the French representative said that the scale of Israel’s operations in Lebanon cannot be justified and is a “major strategic mistake.”

US Ambassador Mike Waltz said de-escalation and peace will come quickly “if Hezbollah immediately ceases its attacks, as apparently it’s promised, and the government of Lebanon asserts its full sovereignty, rebuilds, and brings its people home,” a reference to a ceasefire announced Monday by US President Donald Trump, though of unclear circumstances and commitment by both sides.

Lebanon’s UN Ambassador Ahmad Arafa accused Israel of “capitalizing, as usual, on a tense regional climate” and engaging in a “systematic campaign of destruction” that in many instances “amount to war crimes.”

Arafa said that if Israel commits to a ceasefire, “the state pledges that, once this is achieved, it alone will be held accountable and answerable for any subsequent........

© The Times of Israel