Israeli envoy to UN accuses Hezbollah of trying to rebuild, with help from Iran

Danon writes to Security Council, asserting that UN troops not taking necessary action to stop cash, weapons transfers to Iranian proxy, as IDF gradually withdraws from Lebanon

A member of the Spanish UNIFIL peacekeepers forces stands in front of the rubble of  destroyed buildings during a patrol in the southern Lebanese village of Borj El Mlouk, near the border with Israel, on January 7, 2025, amid a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah. (Anwar Amro / AFP)
A member of the Spanish UNIFIL peacekeepers forces stands in front of the rubble of destroyed buildings during a patrol in the southern Lebanese village of Borj El Mlouk, near the border with Israel, on January 7, 2025, amid a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah. (Anwar Amro / AFP)

UNITED NATIONS — The Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon is trying “to regain strength and rearm with the assistance of Iran,” Israel’s UN ambassador told the Security Council on Monday, declaring that the group remains a “serious threat” to Israel and regional stability.

Updated US intelligence last month had warned that Iran-backed Hezbollah would likely try to rebuild its stockpiles and forces, posing a long-term threat to the US and its regional allies.

Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire in November. Under the terms of the agreement, which has a January 26 deadline, Hezbollah is to withdraw north of the Litani River — some 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the border with Israel — while Israel must withdraw from southern Lebanon, to be replaced by the Lebanese military and UN troops.

The agreement came after more than a year of conflict,  which began on October 8, 2023, when Hezbollah started firing rockets and drones at Israel, a day after the Hamas terror group launched its cross-border rampage and hostage-taking that started the ongoing multifront war.

Both sides have accused each other of violating the deal.

“While Hezbollah’s military capabilities were significantly reduced during the war, they are now attempting to regain strength and rearm with the assistance of Iran,” UN Ambassador Danny Danon wrote to the 15-member Security Council.

Danny Danon, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, talks during a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters, December 18, 2024. (AP Photo/ Seth Wenig)

Hezbollah and Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Danon’s remarks. A senior Lebanese source close to Hezbollah denied the allegations.

Danon said it was “imperative” that the Lebanese government and international community focus on “curbing the smuggling of weapons, ammunition, and financial support through the Syria-Lebanon border and via air and sea routes.”

Since the ceasefire deal was reached, “there have been several attempts to transfer weapons and cash to Hezbollah,” Danon wrote in the letter seen by Reuters. He said Hezbollah’s ongoing military build-up was at times close to UN peacekeeping bases and patrols in southern Lebanon.

“Despite this, UNIFIL chose to interpret its mandate leniently, opting not to take all necessary action to ensure that its area of operations is not utilized for hostile activities of any kind,” Danon wrote.

Spanish UNIFIL peacekeepers read a map during a patrol in the southern Lebanese village of Al Mari, near the border with Israel, on January 7, 2025, amid a fragile truce between Israel and Hezbollah. (Anwar Amro / AFP)

Israel has long been critical of the UN peacekeepers, known as UNIFIL and authorized by the Security Council — under Resolution 1701 — “to assist” Lebanese forces in ensuring the country’s south is “free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the government of Lebanon.”

Top UN officials have repeatedly stressed that UNIFIL has a supporting role and cannot be blamed for the failure of the parties to implement Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War in 2006 and forbids Hezbollah from maintaining a presence south of the Litani River.

“We are concerned that lessons have not been learned and that today, we are witnessing yet another refusal by the Force to adapt to Hezbollah’s changing modus operandi … as well as a refusal to fully implement their mandate,” Danon said.

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