UN Security Council holds emergency meeting after Lebanon explosions

The UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting on Friday in response to deadly portable communications device explosions in Lebanon.

Pagers exploded in Lebanon on Tuesday, and portable radios exploded in the country the next day. A total of 37 people were killed and about 3,000 injured.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib called the incidents “terrorist aggression” and said Israel had violated basic principles of international humanitarian law. He added that Israel does not distinguish between civilians and military personnel.

The foreign minister, however, said Lebanon was not seeking revenge and called for a diplomatic solution.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said: “The real problem is Hezbollah.”

Referring to the Lebanon-based Shiite Muslim group, Danon told the Lebanese minister: “You allowed a terrorist organization to establish a state in your state.”

The Israeli envoy also called on the Lebanese government to withdraw Hezbollah from the border dividing the two countries, in line with a UN Security Council resolution adopted in 2006.

Danon said that if Hezbollah does not withdraw north of the Litani River, Israel will have no choice but to use all means at its disposal to defend its citizens.