Israel demands UN take action against Hezbollah terror organization

“The Security Council must immediately declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization and prevent it from receiving any direct or indirect assistance,” said Ambassador Gilad Erdan.

By Josh Plank, World Israel News

Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations (UN), demanded Tuesday that the UN Security Council take immediate action against the military buildup and ongoing activities of the Hezbollah terrorist organization in southern Lebanon.

“The Security Council must immediately declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization and prevent it from receiving any direct or indirect assistance,” Erdan said in a letter to Security Council members.

“Hezbollah uses human shields to protect its arsenal of more than 130,000 rockets and military infrastructure.

“It systematically deprives UNIFIL [United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon] of its ability to discharge its mandate by restricting the organization’s freedom of movement in an effort to hide its activity,” he said.

Along with the letter, Erdan attached a map of the Israel-Lebanon border prepared by the IDF.

The map showed locations where UNIFIL personnel had been denied access according to reports by the UN chief.

It also marked locations from which recent attacks against Israel had originated and areas where Hezbollah terrorist tunnels have been discovered.

The locations of observation posts belonging to Green Without Borders, a Lebanese environmental organization, were also marked.

Israeli officials have long insisted that Green Without Borders is nothing more than a Hezbollah front group that allows the terror organization to operate in southern Lebanon in violation of UN Resolution 1701.

Erdan also spoke of the danger posed by Hezbollah in his first speech before the Security Council on October 26.

He called Hezbollah an “Iran-related threat that is barely discussed by the council,” and condemned the group’s use of Lebanese civilians as “human shields.”

“Hezbollah acts in complete disregard of human life and of UN Security Council Resolutions 1559, 1680, and 1701,” he said.

“If the council truly cares about the future of the Middle East, how is it possible that not all council members have designated Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization?” Erdan said.

Gilad ErdanHezbollahUnited Nations