“Everybody knows that the Israeli regime’s history is filled with crimes and animosity,” Lebanese Foreign Minister Nassif Hatta was quoted as saying by the Arabic-language Alaahed Channel on Monday.
“Lebanon will definitely defend its integrity against any potential violation by the Zionist regime,” he added.
Referring to the change of mission by the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Hatta warned against any change of approach or the number of UNIFIL members in the country.
“There are some efforts to review the UNIFIL mission in southern Lebanon; we stress our opposition to any changing in these forces’ mission,” he added.
Earlier on Friday (July 24), Lebanon said in a statement that the Israeli regime’s reconnaissance drones had entered the country’s airspace and flown over the southern parts of the Arab country more than two dozen times in flagrant violation of a UN Security Council resolution.
The statement added that Israeli aircraft violated Lebanese airspace 9 times on Saturday.
All violations were in a circular flight format and are being monitored in coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), it said.
Lebanon's government, Hezbollah resistance movement and UNIFIL have repeatedly condemned Israel’s overflights, saying they are in clear violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and the country's sovereignty.
UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which brokered a ceasefire in the war the Israeli regime launched against Lebanon in 2006, calls on Tel Aviv to respect Beirut's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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