Hennis-Plasschaert briefs Security Council on implementation of resolution 1701
Speaking alongside Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific Mohamed Khaled Khiari, she commended steps taken by the Lebanese authorities in recent months and significant progress made by the Lebanese Armed Forces. The Special Coordinator acknowledged, however, that Lebanon has an uphill trajectory ahead in the area of reforms, noting the urgent need to address the "deep-rooted rot of corruption and clientelism", and on the question of arms outside State control. "And there can be no turning back", she said. "This work must be done. It must be done to restore public trust. To build investor and depositor confidence. To preserve stability. And certainly, it must be done to move the needle on financing for recovery and reconstruction."
While admitting that there were no expectations for a State monopoly on arms to materialize overnight, Hennis-Plasschaert noted that a "clearly articulated roadmap with timelines, underpinned by concrete plans, was needed yesterday". She added that "the question of non-State arms is multi-faceted" and that tackling it requires "foresight and a dedicated framework".
Turning to the cessation of hostilities, the Special Coordinator noted that the situation remains "tremendously fragile", given the continued Israeli presence in five positions and two so-called buffer zones, as well as recurrent airstrikes across Lebanon. She underlined that "this new status quo cannot and must not be accepted as normal", adding that it would "not lead to the stability, safety and security that the parties say they seek".
The Special Coordinator underscored Lebanon's persistent vulnerability to regional instability, recalling the military escalation between Iran and Israel in June, as well as recent concerning security developments in Syria. In doing so, she asserted the need to "calibrate our responses to the regional dimensions of the challenges facing the Levant".
To complement and reinforce the military-to-military mechanisms already in place, Hennis-Plasschaert further stressed the urgent need for a dedicated track to elevate unresolved issues to the political level to produce decisive commitments. "Short of this, sustainable solutions will continue to elude both sides", she stressed.
In closing, Hennis-Plasschaert acknowledged that the Lebanese authorities are under tremendous and mounting pressure. "Lebanon, in need of major, sustained international support, runs the risk of being sidelined as regional dynamics shift rapidly around it – a harsh reality that must be acknowledged", she concluded.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Nahar Net
2 hours ago
- Nahar Net
Israeli strikes on south Lebanon kill four
by Naharnet Newsdesk 9 hours Four people were killed on Thursday in separate Israeli strikes on south Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry reported, as Israel said it had targeted two Hezbollah members. The attacks are the latest despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. The ministry said that "an Israeli drone strike targeted a car" in the Nabatiyeh district, killing one person and wounding two others. Another strike "targeted a truck in the town of Naqoura" in southern Lebanon "resulting in one martyr", it said in a statement. The third strike, on Qabrikha, killed two people, a man and a woman who succumbed to her wounds, according to the ministry. The Israeli military said in a statement that it killed Hassan Ahmad Sabra, "a naval commander in Hezbollah's Radwan Force" in the area of Kfour, south Lebanon. It also said that it had killed a Hezbollah member "involved in attempts to reestablish terror infrastructure" in Naqoura. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the third strike. Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a November ceasefire seeking to end over a year of hostilities with Hezbollah. Under the agreement, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers from the Israeli border, leaving the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers as the only armed parties in the region. Israel was required to fully withdraw its troops from the country but has kept them in five places it deems strategic.
Nahar Net
3 hours ago
- Nahar Net
Clashes at West Bank march against settler outpost
Palestinians and the Israeli army clashed on Friday during a march in a village in the northern occupied West Bank against a newly established Israeli settlement outpost. "We came to this area to express our protest and say: 'this land is ours, not yours'", Ghassan Bazour, head of Raba's village council, told AFP. While all Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law, only outposts such as the one established overnight in Raba are also prohibited under Israeli law. An AFP journalist at the scene reported that a group of men holding Palestinian flags and those of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas' Fatah party walked from Raba towards a nearby hill on top of which settlers had established the outpost. After conducting the Muslim Friday prayer at the base of the hill, people continued towards the outpost, until Israeli soldiers arrived on the scene and dispersed the crowd with tear gas, the journalist said. The army did not respond to an AFP request for comment on Friday's events in Raba. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that its teams had provided support to 13 people suffering from tear gas inhalation. Village council chief Bazour said that settlers had originally taken over the hill's high ground to establish an outpost and deny Palestinians access to nearby agricultural lands. "There is now a settler outpost here (which) will continue to devour the land and empty these areas", Muayad Shaaban, head of the Palestinian Authority's Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, told AFP. Despite it being dispersed by the army, Shaaban was enthusiastic about Friday's march, given that violence in recent years has made all protests against settlers dangerous for Palestinians. "This model of resistance must be applied throughout the West Bank. I call for massive marches... to stop this aggression, this terrorism", he said. Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has soared since the Hamas attack of October 2023 triggered the Gaza war. Since October 7, 2023, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 956 Palestinians, including many militants, according to health ministry figures. Over the same period, at least 36 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to official figures.
Nahar Net
3 hours ago
- Nahar Net
Top Holy Land clerics visit Gaza after deadly church strike
by Naharnet Newsdesk 18 July 2025, 16:53 Top church leaders in Jerusalem headed into Gaza Friday in a rare solidarity visit to the territory one day after an Israeli shell slammed into its only Catholic church, killing three people. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III entered Gaza in the morning to express the "shared pastoral solicitude of the Churches of the Holy Land," read a statement released by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The patriarchs and their delegation arrived at the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza in the afternoon. As well as the three people killed in the strike, 10 were wounded, including the resident priest. The church compound was damaged. The delegation was also planning on sending hundreds of tons of food aid, medical supplies and equipment to families inside Gaza, the patriarchate said, adding they also had "ensured evacuation" of individuals injured in the attack to hospitals outside Gaza. The attack drew condemnation from world leaders and religious figures. Pope Leo XIV on Thursday renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire in response to the attack and President Donald Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express his frustration. Israel on Thursday expressed regret over what it described as an accident and said it was investigating. The visit by religious leaders Friday marked a rare entrance to the territory by a delegation of outsiders. With the exception of a trickle of aid workers and a small number of Palestinians needing medical care outside the territory, very few have been able to enter or exit Gaza since the start of Israel's latest offensive in May. At the time of the strike, the church compound was sheltering both Christians and Muslims, including a number of children with disabilities, according to Fadel Naem, acting director of Al-Ahli Hospital, which received the casualties. The Catholic charity Caritas Jerusalem said the parish's 60-year-old janitor and an 84-year-old woman receiving psychosocial support inside a Caritas tent in the church compound were killed in the attack. Parish priest Gabriel Romanelli was lightly wounded. "The Latin Patriarchate remains steadfast in its commitment to the Christian community and the entire population of Gaza. They will not be forgotten, nor will they be abandoned," read the statement from Caritas. Netanyahu released a statement saying Israel "deeply regrets that a stray ammunition hit Gaza's Holy Family Church." The Israeli military said an initial assessment indicated that "fragments from a shell fired during operational activity in the area hit the church mistakenly." It said it was still investigating. Israel has repeatedly struck schools, shelters, hospitals and other civilian buildings, accusing Hamas militants of sheltering inside and blaming them for civilian deaths. Palestinians say nowhere has felt safe since Israel launched its offensive in response to Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 people, most of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Fifty hostages are still being held, less than half of them believed to be alive Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 58,600 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up more than half of the dead. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its tally. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government but is led by medical professionals. The United Nations and other international organizations consider its figures to be the most reliable count of war casualties.
