The General Assembly should condemn and punish Israel for its aggression against Lebanon, ensure the implementation of Security Council resolution 425 (1978), calling for Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, and redress the losses caused by Israeli aggression, the President of Lebanon, Elias Hraoui, told the General Assembly this afternoon. He was addressing a resumed Assembly session on the situation in the Middle East, particularly Israeli attacks against his country.

The Lebanese President said that Israel's attacks had caused the deaths of up to 175 civilians, 109 of whom were killed in the Qana massacre at a base of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). It had also forced up to 500,000 people from their homes and damaged power plants, hospitals, homes and villages.

"How could the Israeli people, once the victims of Auschwitz, Treblinka and others accept that its State massacre more than a hundred men, women and children who were all innocent civilians in Qana that was once visited by Christ and was a scene of His miracles", he asked. "What do you want Lebanon to become? Do you want it to be the sight of mass graves for the world to visit?"

Speaking to the Assembly, the representative of Israel said that Israel had no territorial claim on Lebanon and had no intention of fighting with either the Syrian or Lebanese armies. But after exhausting all diplomatic and political means, Israel's defence forces began hitting back at Hezbollah strongholds, intentionally avoiding sending ground troops. The goal was to create a situation where the Hezbollah could not renew terrorist attacks against it.

The Lebanese Government had been told time and again to control the Hezbollah and it was deplorable that it had disarmed all the militias operating within its territory except Hezbollah, Israel's representative said.

Innocent Lebanese had been hurt because Hezbollah had positioned itself in population centres and close to bases of UNIFIL. Over the past week, Hezbollah had launched over 120 Katyusha rockets, which had injured 55 people and forced more than 12,000 from their homes. The attacks were designed to kill people, inflict terror and destroy the Middle East peace process. Israel would agree to a cease-fire if the other party agreed to a permanent cease-fire as well. It was ready to accept resolution 425 (1978) only within a framework of an overall peace settlement.

The representative of the United Arab Emirates, the Chairman of the Arab Group of States, said that convening the meeting showed the international community's rejection of Israeli aggression, which threatened international peace and security. The international community should adopt a resolution condemning the aggression, adopt measures to end it, force the Israeli Government to pay compensation and assist Lebanon.

The representative of the United States said that she would vote against the draft resolution whose text was being circulated in the Assembly, because it was one-sided in context, failed to recognize the complexity of the situation and would exacerbate the problem. She expressed hope that the Assembly would endorse the Security Council resolution 1052 (1996) without embroidery. "If the Assembly took action on a different resolution it would be a divided house, a United Nations speaking with two voices and with no clear direction", she said.

Statements were also made by the representatives of Saudi Arabia, Libya, China, Yemen, Brazil and Bahrain. Italy's representative spoke for the European Union in a statement joined by Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

The Assembly will resume at 10 a.m., Wednesday, 24 April, to continue discussing the situation in Lebanon.

For further details please see source:
MEETINGS COVERAGE

For further details please see official record:
A/50/PV.113

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