UN should deal firmly with Israel

Lebanese civilians are hospitalised because of a gas attack by Israel in the past two days. The attack - in violation of UN resolution 1701 by the Hebrew state - is testimony to the fact that Israel is working against the international will of enforcing a truce with Lebanon.

The balloons were filled with poisonous gas and dropped on Tyre and surrounding areas in yet another blunt breach of the UN resolution passed by the Security Council in August last year to end the 33-day bloody war between Hezbollah and Israel.

The UN should not take the Israeli operation lightly: It is a chemical attack against a civilian community of a neighbouring sovereign state by using a forbidden means of weaponry. Such ventures might lead to the complete collapse of the already fragile truce between Israel and Lebanon and thereby jeopardise the safety of UN forces in Lebanon.