Holding an emergency meeting following Israel's recent advance into Lebanon - the furthest push in over 20 years - the Security Council today heard calls for a lasting ceasefire as many speakers contrasted Israel's right to defend itself against Hizbullah with its duty to follow international law.
In recent days, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has observed extensive Israeli military activity , as well as attacks on Israeli forces by a non-State armed group - presumably Hizbullah - in the Force's area of operations. This has occurred despite a ceasefire that began in April and has been reportedly extended several times. Israel has also struck Beirut, Lebanon's capital, as recently as 28 May .
The Council last addressed this situation on 31 March , following the deaths of three UNIFIL peacekeepers. Six UNIFIL peacekeepers have been killed since March - four from Indonesia and two from France - and a preliminary investigation by the Force indicated that a shell fired from an Israeli tank was involved in at least one of these incidents.
"The situation in Lebanon is deeply alarming," said Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, as she noted Israeli ground troops pushing further north into Lebanese territory and intensified attacks by Hizbullah reaching deeper into Israel. She added that yesterday, 31 May, Israel's Prime Minister announced that he had ordered the Israel Defense Forces to "deepen and expand" their control over areas previously held by Hizbullah.
Hoisting Israeli Flag at Captured Castle
She also reported that the Israel Defense Forces have circulated images of an Israeli flag flying over Beaufort Castle, "evoking memories of Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon from 1982 until 2000, when the castle was used as an Israeli base". Further, Israel has recently escalated its air campaign and issued sweeping evacuation orders to civilians, "effectively designating the entirety of southern Lebanon as a combat zone".
Meanwhile, Hizbullah has continued to launch dozens of rockets, anti-tank guided missiles and drones, and she also noted the use of surface-to-air missiles and improvised explosive devices against Israeli troops and assets inside Lebanese territory. It has also recently escalated strikes deeper into Israeli territory, and Hizbullah leaders have reiterated that the group will not disarm.
This surge in hostilities has "exacted a devastating human toll", she stressed, with a reported 3,412 killed and more than 10,000 wounded in Lebanon since 2 March. Against that backdrop, she said that Israel's presence north of the Blue Line violates Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as resolution 1701 (2006) . "Israeli forces must withdraw to south of the Blue Line," she underscored, also stressing that Hizbullah and other non-State armed groups in Lebanon must disarm.
Adding that diplomatic efforts "must be given the space to succeed" and that further escalation is "intolerable", she said: "The ultimate objective remains clear - a durable, permanent ceasefire adhered to by all sides."
'Major Strategic Mistake' by Israel
As the floor opened for discussion, the representative of France - whose delegation requested today's meeting - stressed that "it is Hizbullah, supported by Iran, that bears responsibility for the outbreak of hostilities". However, while recognizing Israel's right to defend itself, he underscored that nothing can justify the scale of its operations in Lebanon. "Every village bombed and destroyed, every civilian killed, strengthens Hizbullah," he observed, stressing that this is a "major strategic mistake" for Israel.
He added that Paris will send €17 million in humanitarian aid to support the Lebanese authorities. For its part, Greece's representative said that Athens is finalizing the allocation of a "substantial" financial contribution through the World Health Organization (WHO) aimed at strengthening Lebanon's health sector. She, too, recognized Israel's right to self-defence, but expressed concern over the continued expansion of its military operations inside Lebanon.
Replay of Gaza in Lebanon
Latvia's representative made a similar point, underscoring that military operations must be conducted "in accordance with the UN Charter". She also joined others in expressing concern over the capture of Beaufort Castle, which is a reminder of the cycle of violence four decades ago. Further, she pointed out that continued escalation also enables Hizbullah's resistance narrative. The representative of the Russian Federation also noted this, adding that the situation in Lebanon is an "almost identical replay" of the clearing of the Gaza Strip.
"It seems it is the same strategy, the same playbook, that we have seen elsewhere," concurred Pakistan's representative, spotlighting indiscriminate killing, forced displacement and occupation. The representative of Colombia, Council President for June, spoke in her national capacity to similarly state that Israel's attacks against Lebanon "follow the same pattern that we have been witnessing in Gaza over recent years".
Iran's Playbook
For his part, the representative of the United States pointed to a different playbook - that of Iran - who lights the fire, hides behind civilians and then "pretends to be the fire department when they themselves are the arsonist". Noting that his President has "proposed a clear sequence to end the conflict", he said the path ahead is clear: "Hizbullah stops attacking Israel, the Lebanese Armed Forces and the legitimate Government of Lebanon assert control over Lebanese territory, and Iran stops using Lebanon as a forward operating base."
The representative of the United Kingdom, in that vein, noted that "Hizbullah - at the instigation of Iran - have dragged Lebanon into a war that its Government and people do not want". However, while underscoring that Hizbullah's attacks against Israel must cease, he added that "reckless and disproportionate" Israeli military escalation has exacerbated an already devastating environment for Lebanese civilians. Many other Council members drew attention to the suffering endured by civilians as a result of hostilities, including the representatives of Bahrain, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Panama and Somalia.
"This is Israel's deepest military incursion in Lebanon in more than 20 years," observed China's representative, expressing concern over Israel's announced plans to further expand its ground operations. Stressing that the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon "is now close to existing in name only", he underscored that "military force is not the solution, and expanding occupation cannot bring lasting security".
Liberia's representative added: "Diplomatic negotiations cannot be meaningfully advanced while realities on the ground are being altered through military actions inside the territory of a sovereign State." Recalling his country's history of State collapse, armed non-State factions and hard-won security sector reform, he said that this informs Liberia's position that the Council "must confront the three structural frictions undermining a resolution" - namely, deficits in Lebanese sovereignty, Israeli security and international credibility.
On that, Denmark's representative joined many others is stressing the need for Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon, for Hizbullah to cease its attacks and disarm and for international law to be respected. She also expressed support for the re-establishment of a robust monitoring mechanism - "along the lines of what existed during the ceasefire in 2024" - to ensure compliance with the current ceasefire agreement and build trust between the parties.
She added that the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity are not just theoretical; rather, they are the foundation of the international order that the Council has fought to uphold for the last 80 years. "What we are witnessing in Lebanon today is what happens when those principles erode," she warned.
Lebanon Seeks Accountability as Israel Defends Justification
Despite efforts by the Lebanese Government to contain the current crisis, that country's representative said that Israel - "capitalizing, as usual, on a tense regional climate" - has engaged in a dangerous military escalation. Israel, he stressed, continues its "systematic campaign of destruction", deliberately striking medical personnel, hospitals, journalists, schools, security agencies, UNIFIL forces, places of worship, archaeological sites and "countless other targets that embody Lebanon's collective memory and civilizational identity".
Condemning these practices - "in many instances, they amount to war crimes" - he stressed that this is the result of a collective failure to generate solutions, coupled with a lack of accountability. "That, in turn, emboldens the perpetrator to commit the very same crimes time and time again," he observed. Israel must adhere to a ceasefire so that the Government can extend its control over all of Lebanon. "The State pledges that, once this is achieved, it alone will be held accountable and answerable for any subsequent violations," he said.
Meanwhile, Israel's representative said that his country "did not wake up one morning and decide to enter Lebanon", adding that it "had no choice" after Hizbullah chose to fire on Israel on 2 March. Iran continues to use the group as a proxy to attack northern Israel, and he said that recent attacks on his country's northern communities have intensified. "We have seen the heaviest levels of fire since the April ceasefire," he emphasized.
In fact, there was no ceasefire for those living in northern Israel, he stressed, because Hizbullah never really stopped attacking them. Thousands of Israeli children are home today because Hizbullah rockets and drones have made it impossible for them to safely attend school. Urging the representative of France to imagine that his country was under attack from Spain, he asked whether France would wait "until the drones were buzzing over Paris" or, rather, if it would eliminate the threat.
