Lebanon’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has instructed its permanent mission to the United Nations to lodge a complaint with the UN Security Council against Israel for its interference with the navigation and aviation systems at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport. The ministry branded this action a blatant violation of international laws.
Lebanon intends to file an urgent complaint with the UN Security Council against Israel for its “interference” with the navigation and civil aviation safety systems at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said it “instructed Lebanon’s permanent mission to the United Nations in New York to submit an urgent complaint to the Security Council regarding Israel’s attacks on Lebanese sovereignty through interference with the navigation and civil aviation safety systems at Rafic Hariri International Airport since the start of the war on Gaza.”
The statement highlighted that this measure follows a proposal from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport and a request from the Council of Ministers.
It condemned “these Israeli actions characterized by recklessness, ignoring their serious consequences on the safety of civil aviation and the lives of thousands of civilian passengers daily.”
The Foreign Ministry described the situation as a “flagrant violation of the laws and regulations governed by the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Air Transport Association, and the International Civil Aviation Convention signed in Chicago in 1944, in addition to international humanitarian law.”
The complaint aims to complete the documentation campaign of Israeli breaches and violations, adding to a series of previously filed complaints.
On Tuesday, Lebanon’s Minister of Public Works and Transport, Ali Hamieh, revealed during a government meeting the presence of “interference in the airspace over the airport in Beirut,” warning of “its danger to all local and international air transport companies.”
Lebanese observers noted that the interference targets all Lebanese airspace to gain control and hinder drone operations against it, with the airport facing the greatest risk.
Amid a devastating Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, the Israeli-Lebanese border has witnessed exchanges of fire since October 8, 2023, between the Israeli army and Hezbollah and Palestinian factions, resulting in casualties on both sides of the border.
