Yosef Tekoah, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, warned yesterday that his government will “take all the necessary measures for self-defense” against the acts of aggression by terrorists carried out against Israel from Lebanese territory.
In a letter to Abdulrahim Abby Farah of Somalia, this month’s Security Council President, Tekoah stated that “in recent weeks there has been a marked increase in acts of terror warfare.” As in the past, “the armed attacks from Lebanon are directed in particular against the civilian population,” Tekoah stated. During Dec. terrorists mounted five attacks against Israeli settlements and, in addition, there were two clashes between Israeli patrols and terrorists who crossed the Lebanese border into Israel. In one of these clashes two Israeli soldiers were wounded.
In the first 11 days of this month, Tekoah continued, four settlements were shelled by rockets fired from Lebanese territory and a squad of attackers penetrated Israeli territory near Kibbutz Yeraon. Three terrorists were killed by Israeli forces in the latter encounter.
LEBANON SUPPORTS TERRORIST GROUPS
“The government of Israel cannot and will not acquiesce in acts of armed aggression directed against Israel from Lebanon and is duty bound to take all the necessary measures of self-defense for the protection of its territory and its population,” Tekoah wrote. “The terror organizations do not conceal the fact that they are conducting their operations against Israel from Lebanese territory, their principal base being located under an agreement with the Lebanese authorities in the south-eastern region of Lebanon.”
Tekoah noted that the Lebanese government has “repeatedly proclaimed its support for the terror organizations and their campaign of aggression.” The latest instance, he said, was on Jan. 1 when Radio Beirut quoted the Prime Minister of Lebanon as having declared: “We always endeavor to help our fedayeen brethren and to supply them with whatever we possess.” It is the duty of the Lebanese government to put an “immediate end to such armed attacks against Israel,” Tekoah stated, adding, “The Lebanese government cannot be allowed to Ignore its obligations.”
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