UN Springs Into Action
The United Nations will be taking up the pressing issue of Israel’s attack on the French-built Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq—23 years ago: UN to Deal With Israeli Attacks on Lebanon and Iraq.
Israeli Air Force jets attacked Palestinian terrorist bases just 20 kilometers south of Beirut last night. The raid came in response to the firing of mortar shells at an Israeli Navy ship yesterday afternoon near the Israeli-Lebanese border. Israel’s retaliation was the first time Israel had attacked so close to Beirut since the IDF withdrew from Lebanon four years ago. Lebanon has submitted a formal complaint to the United Nations against Israel.
Defense Minister Sha’ul Mofaz said that this is a “clear message to the Lebanese government that we will not accept any attack on our forces from Lebanese territory.” MK Yuval Shteinitz, Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, acknowledged that the Israelis targeted empty buildings, “but doing so in such proximity to Beirut is threatening to them. Without our deterrence, they would make life intolerable on the northern border.”
The UN plans to deal with another complaint against Israel as well, though this one is much older. It concerns Israel’s air raid on Iraq’s atomic reactor no fewer than 23 years ago. The issue had been pushed off from year to year, as had many other long-forgotten issues, and the current rotating president of the UN General Assembly - a Caribbean Islands diplomat - finally decided to place the issue on the table.