Beirut – Ongoing flights by Israeli warplanes over Lebanon drew rebukes Tuesday from international and local officials here who said the sorties violate the nation’s sovereignty and undermine its weak government.
A news release issued by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, cited Israeli flights over the skies of Beirut and southern Lebanon on Monday as breaches of the painstakingly negotiated U.N. Security Council resolution that ended 34 days of fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah militia.
Israeli military officials declined to comment Tuesday on the flyovers, but their government has defended its right to carry out operations to prevent Hezbollah from replenishing its supply of weapons.
Tuesday, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said an Israeli-imposed air-and- sea blockade of the country would continue until Lebanese and international forces were fully deployed in southern Lebanon, along the border with Israel.
The United Nations considers land or air infringements of the border – dubbed the blue line when Israeli troops withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000 after an 18-year presence – as a break in the cease-fire terms laid out by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701.
“It’s a violation of the blue line, and the Security Council resolution calls upon both parties to fully respect the blue line,” said Maher Nasser, a U.N. spokesman in Lebanon.
UNIFIL said it was investigating reports of a clash Monday between Israeli forces and alleged Hezbollah fighters.
