Israel complains to UN against Lebanon over Hezbollah buildup on border

Israel submitted an official complaint against Lebanon to the UN Security Council on Tuesday, demanding that Beirut take "immediate action" to prevent Hezbollah from establishing military infrastructure along the border.

The complaint was submitted by Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, who warned of a "catastrophe" over Hezbollah’s build up along its northern frontier, according to Israeli publication Yedioth Ahronoth.

Hezbollah is the powerful Iran-backed militant group and political party in Lebanon which has fought several wars with Israel.

Tensions have heightened in recent months between both sides over tents set up by Hezbollah in Israeli-occupied territory. Other incidents have included cross-border fire and an improvised explosion which wounded some members of the Shia militant group.

In the complaint, Israel demanded to "commit the Lebanese government and the United Nations Interim Force in Southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) to take immediate action to prevent the continued construction of Hezbollah's military infrastructure on its northern borders," according to Yedioth Ahronoth.

Why tensions are rising along the Lebanese-Israeli border

By Nicholas Frakes https://t.co/NrgORkqkhe

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"If immediate action is not taken against the continuing deterioration at the borders, the results could be devastating and lead to catastrophe," said Erdan.

Israel has made repeated threats against crisis-hit Lebanon, even saying that it will "take it back to the stone age."

Lebanon has submitted dozens of complaints to the UN against Israel for repeated violation of its sovereignty. Israel conducts near-daily reconnaissance flights over Lebanon and often uses its airspace to bomb targets in Syria.

The enemy states signed a landmark maritime border deal last year, brokered by the US. Reports have said in recent months that Beirut and Tel Aviv will begin US-mediated talks to discuss demarcating their land border, but this has been disregarded by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah who previously said that Lebanon’s border with occupied Palestine was already clear.

Disputed territories include the Shebaa Farms – where Hezbollah set up its tents – and the northern part of the Arab town of Ghajar, from which Israel has failed to withdraw as stipulated in UN Resolution 1701 which ended the 2006 summer war with Hezbollah.