Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, and Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib, had a terse exchange during a U.N. Security Council meeting Friday regarding the Jewish state’s recent targeting of Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.
Bou Habib claimed, "Israel fled Lebanon in 2000, and is now repeating the same mistakes of the past," according to Israel news outlet Arutz Sheva.
Danon shot back: "Mr. Bou Habib, you allowed a terrorist organization to build a state within a state and wreak havoc on your people. Instead of blaming your peace-loving neighbor, the time has come to take action and curb Hezbollah, which is the only way to prevent further escalation. If you continue to ignore Hezbollah's aggression, the pain and suffering of the Lebanese people will be on your shoulders."
Israel was behind attacks earlier this week on Hezbollah operatives by booby-trapping pagers and walkie-talkies to explode, killing dozens and injuring thousands. On Friday, Israel Defense Forces reportedly killed Hezbollah’s top military commander, Ibrahim Aqil, and at least 10 other senior commanders in an airstrike in Beirut. Aqil was wanted by the U.S. for his role in the 1983 bombings of a U.S. Marine barracks and the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.
The attacks were in response to Hezbollah’s continuous bombing of northern Israel. Hezbollah has been relentlessly attacking Israel since the Jewish state’s military response in the Gaza Strip following Iranian-backed Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack.
Bou Habib was joined at the meeting by the U.N. ambassadors from Iran (Amir Saeed Iravani) and Syria (Qusay al-Dahhak). Mojtaba Amani, Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, was injured when his pager detonated Tuesday.
"The attack against our ambassador in Lebanon is an act of terrorism and a violation of international law," said Iravani, without explaining why Amani was carrying a pager belonging to a terrorist group.
During a Security Council meeting Thursday, Arutz Sheva reported Danon scolded the member nations for ignoring Iran’s role for the instability in the Middle East.
"The longer this body remains blind to the reality, the greater the cost the world will pay," Danon said. "Israel is not just fighting for itself. We are the front-line in a battle that threatens the entire region and the world. We are standing firm, facing down the forces of the most oppressive regime in the world, the Islamic Republic of Iran.
"This council and the world must wake up to the reality of the threat Iran poses. The dark force driving the violence we see today is not a collection of independent groups. It's Iran pulling the strings.
"Tehran's proxies, Hezbollah in the north, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, Shi'ite militias in Iraq and Syria, and terrorist cells in Judea and Samaria, are all Iran's attack dogs, unleashed to spread death and destruction across the region.
"These proxies are the claws of a beast, a beast that is not content with attacking Israel alone but is rushing fast toward the domination of the Middle East."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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