At the United Nations Security Council session, the Lebanese Foreign Minister strayed from the main topic in the conclusions he reached in his speech. Instead of extricating Lebanon from the global power struggles playing out on its soil, he further entangled the country’s fate in this international game. Specifically, he did this by tightly linking Lebanon’s southern border situation with Gaza.
The Lebanese have become mere spectators to the unfolding events in their country, with two parties primarily responsible for this state of affairs: Hezbollah and the current ruling authority in both the executive and legislative branches. This reality shifted slightly last Tuesday when Lebanon’s healthcare sector assisted thousands injured in explosions caused by pager devices.On that day, the Ashrafieh area was engulfed in traffic as measures were implemented to facilitate the arrival of the injured at local hospitals, transported from Beirut’s southern suburbs by ambulances.
Aside from this isolated incident, Lebanese citizens have remained in the spectator’s corner for over 11 months, a position imposed by Hezbollah under the threat of being labeled traitors for questioning why the group opened the southern front on October 8 last year. The ruling authority has exemplified submission to Hezbollah’s leadership, which peaked during last Friday’s United Nations Security Council session. Acting Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib’s appearance demonstrated what it means to align oneself with power, even when that power operates outside the realms of truth and law.
During Lebanon’s statement at the Security Council session dedicated to discussing the situation in Lebanon and the Middle East, Bou Habib remarked in a manner reminiscent of Tariq bin Ziyad’s “The sea is in front of you, and the enemy is behind you,” saying, “War is before you, and Resolutions 1701 and 2735 are in your council’s drawers. The choice is yours. Will your esteemed council act swiftly and decisively to silence the drums of war beating on the doors of the entire Middle East, or will we remain mere spectators to the rolling ball of fire?”
The international community understands why the Lebanese Foreign Minister would urge the implementation of Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war. However, what neither the world nor Lebanon can comprehend is why Bou Habib bundled this resolution with Resolution 2735, passed by the Security Council on June 10. The latter welcomes Israel’s acceptance of a ceasefire proposal on May 31 and urges Hamas to accept it as well, calling on both sides to implement its terms without delay or conditions.
What is the connection between these two resolutions? The answer is now clear. Hezbollah’s Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, declared over 11 months ago when he opened the southern front to support Hamas in the Gaza war: “The confrontation in the south will end when the war in Gaza ends.” While Bou Habib did not repeat Nasrallah’s words verbatim in his speech, his message clearly aligned with Nasrallah’s.
What was the scene like at the United Nations Security Council when the Foreign Minister delivered his speech?
According to a report from The New York Times, Security Council members called for an investigation into the operations in Lebanon, widely attributed to Israel, which collectively detonated pager and wireless communication devices used by Hezbollah activists, killing dozens and injuring thousands, including many children.
The nature of these attacks, which turned ordinary objects into weapons, raised alarms and led to widespread condemnation at the meeting. Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told council members: “These attacks represent a new development in the war, where communication tools become weapons, detonating simultaneously across markets, street corners, and homes as part of daily life.” He added that the operations unleashed “widespread fear, panic, and horror” among the people of Lebanon, who now fear that any device could be compromised.
Turk stated, “This cannot become the new normal,” calling for an “independent, transparent, and comprehensive” investigation into the attacks and accountability for the perpetrators, whom he said violated the rules of war and human rights law.
Many council members echoed his concerns. Swiss representative Pascale Baeriswyl expressed her “deep concern” over the device explosions, calling the developments “extremely alarming.” She emphasized that “the circumstances and responsibilities must be clarified,” noting that “war has rules.”
Similarly, Algeria’s representative, Ammar Benjama, who called for the meeting, said that these “unprecedented” attacks opened a “dangerous Pandora’s box.”
Some members of the council, however, focused on Hezbollah’s role in escalating tensions, as well as the involvement of the group’s supporters in Iran. US Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood stated: “The Security Council cannot ignore the origins of this conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.” He noted that while all parties in the conflict are expected to follow international humanitarian law, Hezbollah shattered the region’s stability by launching strikes on Israel’s northern border in solidarity with Hamas after the October 7 attack that sparked the Gaza war.
British representative James Kariuki took a similar stance, saying: “Hezbollah launched an unjustified attack on Israel on October 8, 2023,” adding that Britain “firmly supports Israel’s right to defend its citizens.”
Both the British and American representatives blamed Iran for fueling regional tensions by arming Hezbollah, accusing it of undermining the Lebanese people’s hopes for peace.
However, all Security Council members seemed united on one point: calling for restraint from all parties involved in the conflict to prevent an escalation that could lead to a regional war. Kariuki said, “Now is the time for cooler heads.”
The proceedings of the Security Council session revealed that the Lebanese Foreign Minister missed the main point of his own speech. Instead of distancing Lebanon from the international power struggle on its soil, he further tied it to that conflict by establishing a strong connection between southern Lebanon and Gaza.
In what appears to be a consequence of the Security Council session, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced the postponement of his trip to New York for the UN General Assembly. However, he attributed the delay to “developments related to the Israeli aggression against Lebanon.” The statement concluded, “After consultation and coordination with the Foreign Minister, we agreed on urgent diplomatic actions to be taken at this stage.”
It seemed Mikati intended to imply that his Foreign Minister was fulfilling Hezbollah’s agenda perfectly. Therefore, there was no need for him to join in New York, where such blatant allegiance would be too evident, characterizing Lebanon’s current ruling authority.
