Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea Thursday urged the outgoing Cabinet to hold a meeting to discuss the situation in southern Lebanon after Israel this week launched its Northern Shield Operation.
In a statement on the LF’s website,
Geagea said said in a statement on the LF’s website, that the situation along the southern border “has become delicate,” in the wake of Israel’s announcement Tuesday morning that it launched an operation targeting tunnels that were allegedly dug by Hezbollah into northern Israel.
“In this case, the resigned government should meet urgently in order to discuss what is going on in the south and to assure Lebanon’s commitment to Resolution 1701,” Geagea said in the statement, referring to the U.N. Security Council resolution that originally ended the 2006 war with Israel and called for the cessation of all hostilities between the two countries.
The Lebanese Army meanwhile dismissed Wednesday Israeli claims of “Hezbollah tunnels,” describing them as “mere allegations.”
The Army released the statement after it joined a regular tripartite meeting with representatives from UNIFIL and the Israeli army, when it was agreed that the U.N. peacekeeping mission would dispatch a “technical team” to Israel Thursday to look into the Israeli claims.
Geagea said that the Lebanese government should wait for the result of the investigation to decide its next steps.
“If the [report] says that the tunnels don’t exist, the Lebanese government should carry out an international diplomatic campaign,” he said. “If the report shows that there were tunnels, the government should officially ask Hezbollah to halt any work that may endanger Lebanon and the Lebanese.”
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