Israel's UN ambassador urges Lebanese to reclaim sovereignty from Iran

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations in a Thursday speech in Arabic accused Iran-backed Hezbollah of holding the people of Lebanon hostage, calling on Lebanese citizens to reclaim their sovereignty from Tehran’s influence.

Addressing a Security Council meeting on the Middle East, Ambassador Danny Danon warned Iran to get its “bloodstained hands off Lebanon.”

During the speech, Danon pointed his finger directly at Iran’s UN representative - figuratively and physically.

The Iranian ambassador sat and listened. In previous Security Council meetings, Iran used to exit the room as soon as Israel took the stage. This time - they didn't.

Danon’s focus was on painting a picture where Lebanon could be an ally of Israel – and Iran as their common adversary.

“Lebanon belongs to the Lebanese, not to the Iranians!” he said.

He referred to Lebanon as a hostage of Iran-backed Hezbollah and urged its people to reclaim their sovereignty.

The Israeli ambassador also emphasized that his country does not seek to remain in Lebanon but is there to push Hezbollah away from the northern border to ensure the return of nearly 70,000 residents who became refugees in Israel after October 7.

Jonathan Harounoff, an international spokesperson for the Israeli mission to the United Nations, told Iran International that “Israel is not at war with Lebanon. It does not seek war with Lebanon."

The Israeli military has in recent weeks been launching multiple airstrikes against Hezbollah’s positions, killing the group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah and almost all of its other commanders. However, there seems to be no end to the attacks in sight.

Twenty-two people were killed and 117 injured in the latest Israeli airstrikes in Beirut near a Shia area Thursday evening local time, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

The apparent target was Wafiq Safa, Hassan Nasrallah’s brother-in-law and one of Hezbollah’s high-ranking security officials, but that has yet to be confirmed.

Israel's military said its troops opened fire near a UNIFIL base in southern Lebanon after instructing UN forces in the area to remain in protected spaces on Thursday morning.

Israel repeatedly says it targets military capabilities and militants in Lebanon, taking steps to mitigate risk of harms to civilians, accusing Hezbollah - as it does with Hamas - of hiding among civilians.

Israel’s military said on Thursday it uncovered a tunnel that crossed into Israel from Lebanon, finding weapons allegedly stored by Hezbollah in southern Lebanese villages. Danon said the findings support what Israeli security forces have been saying for months of a plan for Hezbollah to allegedly carry out another Oct 7 attack in the north of Israel.

Lebanon’s UN representative, Hadi Hachem, accused Israel of violating the blue line, saying it contravened resolution 1701, and that civilians, historical sites and a water station were recently targeted.

“This is a clear aggression of an independent, sovereign state,” said Hachem.

Hachem made no mention of Iran, and said only diplomatic solutions would be the right path forward, calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Israel's representative responded that Hezbollah brought Lebanon into the conflict, saying their silence has forced Israel's hand. Danon even encouraged Lebanon's representative to come sit next to him. Hachem was seated indirectly next to the representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in support of Hamas, who launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and holding hundreds hostage.

The future of Lebanon, Danon said, must be one where there is no Hezbollah in place.

Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said now is the time for the Lebanese army to guard Lebanon against Hezbollah.

"While it may be fashionable to frame Israel’s pushback against Hezbollah as part of a third Lebanon war, the comment by Ambassador Danon is instructive. The occupying power in Lebanon is the Islamic Republic of Iran, which not only benefitted for so many years from using Lebanon as a forward operating base against Israel, but now is intent on wrecking it rather than call its proxy Hezbollah to stand down," said Taleblu.

Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeed Iravani, spoke of destruction in Gaza, and also spent time eulogizing Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah.

He said he was a “critical factor for peace and stability in Lebanon” and said he was the “best remaining hope for advancing the ceasefire process."