Israel to Press U.N. Chief on 'Blindness' on Hizbullah
Israel will press U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres on what it says is Hizbullah's arms buildup in Lebanon during his first visit to Israel since taking office, the deputy foreign minister said Sunday.
Guterres was due to arrive in the evening for meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and officials, with the visit scheduled to continue through Wednesday.
The trip comes as the U.N. Security Council debates renewing for a year the mandate of its peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, with a vote expected on August 30.
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, has blasted the commander of the UNIFIL peacekeepers, accusing him of turning a blind eye to alleged Hizbullah weapons smuggling.
United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric has however said: "We have full confidence in (the commander's) work."
Israeli deputy foreign minister Tzipi Hotovely told public radio on Sunday: "Haley was right."
"We shall not allow this blindness to continue," she said, adding that Hizbullah's alleged deployment along Lebanon's border with Israel would be a "very central issue" in the discussions with Guterres.
"He will meet the head of military intelligence and receive a briefing, and also meet the prime minister, and I am sure that he will not leave here with the feeling that the mandate given to the U.N. is being implemented on the ground," Hotovely said.
Beyond meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he is also expected to hold talks with Palestinian premier Rami Hamdallah in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday.
Guterres has told the Security Council that he intends to look at ways in which UNIFIL could beef up its efforts "regarding the illegal presence of armed personnel, weapons or infrastructure inside its area of operations."
Source: Agence France Presse
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