Geagea Slams Silence over UNIFIL Attacks, Demands Swift Government Action
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea expressed deep concern over recent incidents targeting UNIFIL in southern Lebanon, questioning the absence of a clear stance from Lebanese authorities.
In a statement, Geagea said, "If UNIFIL is overstepping its mandate, the Lebanese government should inform the force accordingly. But if it is not, as clearly defined in UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and its successive renewals, then the relevant authorities must not only intervene to halt confrontations but also detain and prosecute the assailants."
Moreover, Geagea warned that portraying the state as a mere mediator between UN peacekeepers and those attacking them weakens state authority and perpetuates the perception that nothing has changed in Lebanon despite all recent upheavals.
Geagea also called for swift arrests and firm legal action, saying it would signal the emergence of a functioning state in Lebanon.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Nahar Net
2 hours ago
- Nahar Net
Israel says hit Hezbollah site in Naqoura after questioning member
by Naharnet Newsdesk 21 June 2025, 13:08 Israel's military said Saturday its navy hit a Hezbollah "infrastructure site" near the southern Lebanese city of Naqoura, a day after Israel's defense minister warned the Lebanese armed group against entering the Iran-Israel war. "Overnight, an Israeli Navy vessel struck a Hezbollah 'Radwan Force' terrorist infrastructure site in the area of Naqoura in southern Lebanon," the Israeli army said in a statement. The military said the site was used by Hezbollah "to advance terror attacks against Israeli civilians." In a separate statement on Saturday, the military said it had "struck and eliminated" a Hezbollah militant in south Lebanon the previous day, despite an ongoing ceasefire between both sides. In a statement carried by the official National News Agency, Lebanon's health ministry said late on Friday that one person was killed in a "strike carried out by an Israeli enemy drone on a motorcycle" in the southern town of Baraasheet. Earlier in the day, Israeli warplanes launched a wave of airstrikes on the heights of the Jezzine district, with the Israeli army saying the raids targeted "Hezbollah rocket launchpads and arms depots" and claiming that the Lebanese group had been "trying to rebuild its capabilities in these sites" in violation of the ceasefire understandings. The November ceasefire aimed to end hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, which sparked months of deadly hostilities by launching cross-border attacks on northern Israel in solidarity with Palestinian ally Hamas following its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Lebanon's army, which has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure as part of the truce, said earlier in June that the Israeli military's ongoing violations and "refusal to cooperate" with the ceasefire monitoring mechanism "could prompt the (Lebanese) military to freeze cooperation" on site inspections.
Nahar Net
6 hours ago
- Nahar Net
Israel says Abbasiyeh strike killed Hezbollah commander for Litani sector
by Naharnet Newsdesk 21 June 2025, 12:56 The Lebanese health ministry said an Israeli strike on south Lebanon's al-Abbasiyeh killed one person, as Israel said it killed a member of Hezbollah. Israel has continued to carry out near-daily strikes on Lebanon despite a November ceasefire with Hezbollah and an unprecedented bombing campaign it launched on Iran last week. In a statement carried by Lebanon's state-run National News Agency, the ministry said that an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle killed one person near the southern village of Abbassiyeh. The Israeli army named its target as Mohammed Khadr al-Husseini and said he was "commander of the Hezbollah firepower array in the Litani sector". The military alleged that Husseini "advanced numerous attacks toward Nahariya, Haifa and additional cities" during the war and supported efforts in rebuilding Hezbollah's arsenal since then. Israel has repeatedly bombed its northern neighbor despite a November ceasefire ending more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah. Israel said it would continue its strikes on Lebanon until Hezbollah was fully disarmed. As Israel's war with Iran entered its eighth day, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Hezbollah to keep out of the conflict, saying: "If there is terrorism, there will be no Hezbollah." Speaking in Beirut on Thursday, U.S. special envoy for Syria Thomas Barrack said any intervention by Hezbollah would be "a very, very, very bad decision."
MTV Lebanon
15 hours ago
- MTV Lebanon
UN's Guterres Urges 'Give Peace a Chance' Amid Israel–Iran Tensions
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Friday that expansion of the Israel-Iran conflict could "ignite a fire no one can control" and called on both sides and potential parties to the conflict to "give peace a chance." Representatives from Israel and Iran later traded angry accusations at the same UN Security Council meeting, with Israel vowing not to stop its attacks. The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency, meanwhile, warned that attacks on nuclear facilities could result in "radioactive releases with great consequences within and beyond boundaries" of the state attacked and called for maximum restraint. Guterres said there were "moments when the directions taken will shape not just the fate of nations, but potentially our collective future". "This is such a moment," he said. He said the conflict must not be allowed to expand. "To the parties to the conflict, the potential parties to the conflict, and to the Security Council as the representative of the international community, I have a simple and clear message: give peace a chance," Guterres said. The Security Council session took place as European foreign ministers met their Iranian counterpart on Friday hoping to test Tehran's readiness to negotiate a new nuclear deal despite there being scant prospect of Israel ceasing its attacks soon. Israel has repeatedly bombed nuclear targets in Iran, which it sees as components of a weapons program, and Iran has fired missiles and drones at Israel as a week-old air war escalated with no sign yet of an exit strategy from either side. The White House said on Thursday U.S. President Donald Trump would make a decision within the next two weeks whether to get involved on Israel's side. Iran says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes. It said on Friday it would not discuss the future of the program while under attack by Israel, which is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons. Israel neither confirms nor denies this. Iran's UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said Iran would continue to defend itself from Israeli attacks, while his Israeli counterpart Danny Danon vowed: "We will not stop. Not until Iran's nuclear threat is dismantled, not until its war machine is disarmed, not until our people and yours are safe." Iravani said Iran was "alarmed by credible reports that the United States... may be joining this war," and accused Israel of hitting five hospitals in its attacks, a charge for which Danon demanded he provide evidence. Danon said Israel sought genuine efforts to dismantle Iran's nuclear capabilities from Friday's meeting between European and Iranian ministers, not just another round of talks. "We have seen diplomatic talks for the last few decades, and look at the results," he told reporters. "If it is going to be like another session and debates, that's not going to work." Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, outlined Israeli attacks on nuclear facilities at Natanz, Isfahan and Arak. He said the level of radioactivity outside Iran's Natanz site had remained unchanged and at normal levels, indicating no external radiological impact on the population or the environment there. However, he said that within the facility there was both radiological and chemical contamination. He said the IAEA was not aware of any damage at Iran's Fordow plant at this time. An attack on Iran's Bushehr plant would be most serious, he said: "It is an operating nuclear power plant and hosts thousands of kilograms of nuclear material." "I want to make it absolutely and completely clear: In the case of an attack on the Bushehr nuclear power plant, a direct hit would result in a very high release of radioactivity to the environment," Grossi said. "Similarly, a hit that disabled the only two lines supplying electrical power to the plant could cause its reactor's core to melt." He said any action against the Tehran nuclear research reactor will also have severe consequences, "potentially for large areas of the city of Tehran and its inhabitants." The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Dorothy Camille Shea, said the United States "continues to stand with Israel and supports its actions against Iran's nuclear ambitions." "We can no longer ignore that Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon," she said. China and Russia demanded immediate de-escalation. Russia's UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, said Israel's actions risked pulling third countries into the conflict and internationalization of the conflict must be avoided. He said targeting of what he called Iran's peaceful civilian nuclear facilities was "liable to plunge us into a hither to unseen nuclear catastrophe." Iran says its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes. Israel is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons. It neither confirms nor denies this.
