BEIRUT, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib on Sunday called for an investigation into the attack a day earlier on the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, killing 12 people.
Bou Habib said that the Majdal Shams strike must have been "carried out by other organizations, or it must have been an Israeli mistake, or a mistake by Hezbollah," calling for "an international investigation or a meeting of the tripartite committee through the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to find out the truth on this matter."
Previously, Hezbollah denied responsibility for the attack.
According to the National News Agency, Bou Habib stressed Lebanon's rejection of targeting civilians anywhere in the world, whether in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon or Israel, and its condemnation of any party that targets civilians.
Bou Habib warned that a major Israeli attack on Lebanon would lead to "the outbreak of a regional war."
Bou Habib called for "the full and comprehensive implementation of UN Resolution 1701 from both sides," stressing that "a major attack by Israel on Lebanon will lead to a deterioration of the situation in the region and the outbreak of a regional war."
After the issuance of UN Resolution 1701, which put an end to the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, tripartite meetings have been held regularly under the leadership of the UNIFIL at its headquarters in southern Lebanon between Lebanese and Israeli officials, an essential mechanism for managing the conflict.
Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on Oct. 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas's attack on Israel the day before. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon. ■
