ASIA/LEBANON - Maronite Patriarch denounces the incursion of Israeli drones into Lebanese territory

Wednesday, 28 August 2019 middle east   oriental churches   shi'ites   area crisis   weapons   geopolitics  

alAkhbar.com

Beirut (Agenzia Fides) - Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Rai deplored the Israeli drone attacks that fell on the night between Saturday and Sunday in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which are mainly home to the Shiite population and where important presidents of the Hezbollah Shiite Party are located. In a statement released on Tuesday, August 27, the Lebanese Cardinal stigmatized the repeated Israeli violations of resolution 1701 unanimously approved by the UN Security Council in August 2006, which called for the withdrawal of the Israeli armed forces from southern Lebanon, to stop attacks by Hezbollah militias against the Israeli army and the end of any military operation on the border areas. The Patriarch also reaffirmed the urgency to set up and implement "a national defense strategy", inviting the international community to put pressure on Israel to push the Jewish state "to respect international resolutions, in particular 1701, which is regularly violated", and to "increase political, economic and military support for Lebanon, in order to help it overcome its difficulties"
Of the two drones sent by Israel to the suburbs of Beirut, one exploded in the air and another fell on the Lebanese capital, which exploded outside the headquarters of Hezbollah's propaganda offices and causing extensive damage to the structure. Local media report that Israeli drones were remote-controlled in the last stretch by operators on Lebanese territory.
The "war of drones" takes the form of yet another, unprecedented and disturbing chapter in the conflicts and armed clashes that torment the Middle East.
A few hours earlier, the Israeli military had carried out a raid in Aqraba, in Syria, south-east of Damascus. According to reports from Israeli sources, the air attack was aimed at "operational departments of the Iranian revolutionary guards and Shiite militias who in recent days were preparing advanced attack plans on Israeli sites from Syria", through the use of armed drones. The Israeli raid in Syria also caused the death of two Lebanese experts in aeronautical engineering and drones. (GV) (Agenzia Fides, 28/8/2019)


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