Security Council Condemns Death of Peacekeeper, Spain Blames Israel
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
The U.N. Security Council condemned on Wednesday the death of a Spanish U.N. peacekeeper during the Israeli military's exchange of fire with Hizbullah in a disputed border area.
The Council condemned his death in the strongest terms and offered its deepest sympathies.
Spain's ambassador to the U.N. blamed Israel for his death.
"It was because of this escalation of violence, and it came from the Israeli side," Spanish Ambassador Roman Oyarzun Marchesi told reporters.
The U.N. peacekeeper has been identified as Cpl. Francisco Javier Soria Toledo, 36, and U.N. officials have said only that the cause of his death is under investigation.
The Spanish envoy said he had asked for a full investigation during an emergency meeting of the council called by France to discuss ways to defuse tensions between Israel and Lebanon.
The violence raised fears of another all-out conflict between Israel and Hizbullah, who fought a month-long war in 2006.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for "maximum calm and restraint," urging all sides to "act responsibly to prevent any escalation in an already tense regional environment," a U.N. statement said.
Tension in the area has been building, especially after an Israeli air strike on the Syrian sector of the Golan Heights killed six Hizbullah fighters and an Iranian general on January 18.
"Our objective is to engage toward de-escalation and to prevent further escalation of the situation," French Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters.
France presented a draft statement to council members but after meeting for over an hour, the council issued a terse condemnation of the peacekeeper's death and made no mention of de-escalation efforts.
Discussions on the council statement were continuing.
29 January 2015, 11:00
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Our objective is to engage toward de-escalation and to prevent further escalation of the situation," French Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters.
All the E.U is intervening to exert pressures on Israel. We ought to thank them for protecting Lebanon. All this friendship is the result of the work of President Michel Suleiman, and PM Salam.
29 January 2015, 11:13
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what pressures? and when did israel ever care about their pressures? each time the attacked and bombed and massacred they kept going as much as they could, while the international community sits in lounges drinking tea and reading poetry, only stopping a few time a day to make some half-baked hypocrite speeches...
no, the only language israel understands is the one of slaps in their faces, the convoy yesterday was the price for the convoy ten days ago, and they know that from now on every attack will be faced by an equal retaliation. 2 months before the elections, ben nitay could not afford to get humiliated in lebanon, this is why he ate s...
29 January 2015, 11:15
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and btw humble, you spent the day yesterday flooding us with the same comment pasted all over the forums... promising the destruction of lebanon and hezbollah by your israeli friends was imminent... i bet you must have felt stupid and very very disappointed when you saw them cowering in the face of hezbollah's deterrence power.
hezbollah showed the way yesterday, the only way to be safe from israel is to make them pay for every crime they commit.
29 January 2015, 11:30
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Your problem is that you don't read, and if you read you don't understand:
"Our objective is to engage toward de-escalation and to prevent further escalation of the situation," French Ambassador Francois Delattre told reporters.
29 January 2015, 11:52
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ohhh yea, that's like suuuper intense dude, i think "pressure" is an euphemism here!that little sentence must have terrified israelis into staying in their kennel, like the good puppies they are. right?
