UN Security Council to Discuss Israeli Violations on Wednesday

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. (Reuters)
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. (Reuters)
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UN Security Council to Discuss Israeli Violations on Wednesday

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. (Reuters)
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. (Reuters)

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said Monday that the United Nations is required to be more credible by starting to translate Palestinian-related international statements and positions into actions.

The PM was speaking ahead of a UN Security Council open debate scheduled for Wednesday to discuss the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

“At the request of the Palestinian government, the UN Security Council will discuss Wednesday the breaches committed by the occupation forces, the continuous attacks by settlers in the West Bank, including the occupied city of Jerusalem, and the ongoing Israeli siege on our people in the Gaza Strip,” the PM said following a cabinet meeting.

Shtayyeh said there has been a noticeable escalation in settler violence, house demolitions, forced displacement, detention and killing of Palestinian civilians, including children.

“The occupation soldiers killed a child from Deir Nidham while on Monday morning another child from Abwein died from his injuries after he was shot by Israeli bullets,” the PM said, adding that dozens of people were also injured in confrontations with Israeli soldiers in several areas in the Jordan Valley and Masafer Yatta.

Palestinians are hoping the Security Council would adopt resolutions to support the Palestinian cause, although such a position is unlikely to happen.

Last Friday, Palestine’s Permanent Representative to the UN Riyad Mansour slammed the international community’s inaction towards the Israeli violations of international law, including the UN Charter, Fourth Geneva Convention and UN resolutions.

He made his accusations in letters sent to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the President of the General Assembly and this month’s President of the Security Council (France) and tackling the deteriorating situation resulting from Israel’s violations in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry asked the UN Security Council to respect its legal and moral obligations regarding Israeli violations and crimes against Palestinians.

It condemned in the strongest terms the occupation forces and called on the US administration, the Israeli government and some European countries to immediately recognize the State of Palestine.



Lebanon: At Least 2 Hurt as Israeli Troops Fire on People Returning South after Truce with Hezbollah

A South Korean UN peacekeeper patrol drive past destroyed buildings in Chehabiyeh village, southern Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024 following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A South Korean UN peacekeeper patrol drive past destroyed buildings in Chehabiyeh village, southern Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024 following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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Lebanon: At Least 2 Hurt as Israeli Troops Fire on People Returning South after Truce with Hezbollah

A South Korean UN peacekeeper patrol drive past destroyed buildings in Chehabiyeh village, southern Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024 following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A South Korean UN peacekeeper patrol drive past destroyed buildings in Chehabiyeh village, southern Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024 following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

At least two people were wounded by Israeli fire in southern Lebanon on Thursday, according to state media. The Israeli military said it had fired at people trying to return to certain areas on the second day of a ceasefire with the Hezbollah militant group.

The agreement, brokered by the United States and France, includes an initial two-month cease-fire in which Hezbollah militants are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded by Israeli fire in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. It said Israel fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.

The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”

Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.

A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.

The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.

Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.

More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.

Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.

In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.