UN Security Council blames Hezbollah for violence in Lebanon but demands Israeli withdrawal

Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said Israel “did not wake up one morning and decide to enter Lebanon.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Members of the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on Lebanon Monday, where officials blamed Hezbollah for continued hostilities while also calling on Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanese territory.

The meeting was convened at the request of France, which cited escalating violence in Lebanon, according to a statement from the French Foreign Ministry.

Addressing the council, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee said Israel’s military operations in Lebanon violate the country’s territorial integrity and conflict with the 2006 Security Council resolution that calls for Israel’s withdrawal south of the UN-demarcated border.

At the same time, Pobee said Hezbollah bears responsibility for ongoing violence and must comply with obligations requiring the group to disarm.

She 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 published on the UN website.

France also assigned responsibility for the conflict to Hezbollah and its Iranian backers.

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

The emergency session took place as Israel has continued military operations against Hezbollah.

The Israeli military has said its actions are aimed at preventing attacks by the group, which it says has refused to disarm in accordance with the terms of the ceasefire reached in 2024.

Most members of the Security Council, however, focused their remarks on criticism of Israel and demands for an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.

Lebanon’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ahmad Arafa, accused Israel of “capitalizing, as usual, on a tense regional climate” and conducting a “systematic campaign of destruction” that he said in many cases “amounts to war crimes.”

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, defended Israel’s presence in Lebanon as a security necessity and pointed out that Hezbollah had violated the ceasefire established in November 2024.

Danon said Israel “did not wake up one morning and decide to enter Lebanon,” adding that the country “had no choice” after Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2.

US Ambassador Mike Waltz said a reduction in tensions could be achieved 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.”