The Lebanese President, General Michel Aoun, informed the UNIFIL Commander, General Stefano Del Col, as he welcomed him at the Baabda Palace this Tuesday, that the “Israeli allegations of weapons storage in the vicinity of Rafic Hariri International Airport and in populated areas have proved to be invalid through a field inspection of the said areas, in the presence of heads of diplomatic missions in Lebanon.”

“These allegations fall within the framework of Israeli practices aimed at maintaining tension in the South, while everyone notices that Israeli planes constantly violate the Lebanese airspace to bomb the Syrian territory,” said the President.

Aoun did not fail to express satisfaction with the role played by the UNIFIL force and the ongoing coordination between it and the Lebanese Army.

“Israel’s refusal to demarcate the maritime border in the exclusive economic zone is a camouflage to its latent intentions,” he maintained. “Resolving the dispute over the land and sea borders and re-demarking them properly will promote stability on the border,” the president concluded.

General Del Col briefed his host on the meetings he held since the beginning of his term as UNIFIL commander, stressing the importance of coordination between said force and the army leadership in various fields.

He pointed out that the situation in the south is stable and calm. “The United Nations General Secretariat is being informed of the Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty. These violations are also being discussed at the tripartite meetings held at the headquarters of the International Command in Naqoura,” he said.

On a different note, President Aoun welcomed, in the presence of outgoing Justice Minister Salim Jreissati, the new Head of Defense Bureau of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Mrs. Dorothee Le Fraper du Hellen, upon her appointment in this new position, replacing French lawyer Francois Roux.

The meeting touched on the work of the defense office and the role it plays within the framework of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the anticipated prospects for the verdicts.

Source: NNA