Lebanese Ambassador Warns Victims of Aggression Entitled to Take ‘resounding Revenge’

Edouard Ghorra, Lebanon’s ambassador. injected a dire warning into the Security Council’s debate late this afternoon when he declared that victims of aggression are entitled to take “resounding revenge.” He did not amplify on this remark. Speaking for the second time today, Mr. Ghorra told the Security Council that, despite Israeli claims earlier in the day that her military action against Lebanon was directed solely against the concentration of the terrorist organizations in the area, Israeli soldiers had struck at Lebanese defenses during its morning raid. He said that five Lebanese soldiers had been killed and seven wounded. Mr. Ghorra said that as of 4:30 p.m. New York time, Israeli forces remained in the area “in large numbers” without “any sign of withdrawing.” Israeli ambassador Yosef Tekoah had said in the morning session that Israeli forces had concluded their operations. Ahmed Taibi Benhima, the Moroccan ambassador charged that Israel had sought to “turn Lebanon into a kind of Cambodia.” He said the “true implications” of the Israeli “invasion” were that they could lead to “more serious” situations. Answering Mr. Ghorra’s charge that Israeli soldiers were still in Lebanon, Mr. Tekoah reaffirmed that operations had been completed but that the Israeli troops could not leave immediately because it is already nighttime in the region(due to a six hour time difference between New York and Lebanon,) Mr. Tekoah said the Israeli troops refrained from moving at night to avoid shooting at moving objects that may be civilians but cannot be discerned in the darkness.