Israel violates Lebanese airspace almost daily: UN chief

UNITED NATIONS, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Israel continued to violate Lebanese airspace almost daily, in violation of Lebanese sovereignty, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a report to the Security CoUNcil released on Monday.

Focusing on the implementation of Security CoUNcil Resolution 1701 concerning Lebanon during the period from Oct. 27, 2018 to Feb. 17, 2019, the report said that from November to February, UNited Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) recorded an average of 96.5 air space violations each month, with an average of 262 overflight hours.

UNmanned aerial vehicles accoUNted for approximately 77 percent of the violations, while the remaining violations involved fighter jets or UNidentified aircraft, it added.

The UN chief is "seriously concerned that Israeli overflights of Lebanese territory continue to be a frequent occurrence, including by fighter aircraft. Such overflights constitute a violation of resolution 1701 and of Lebanese sovereignty," said the report.

The Resolution 1701 called for an end to hostilities between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah forces, the deployment of the Lebanese army along the Israeli border, and the establishment of a weapons-free zone south of the Litani River, an important water resource in southern Lebanon.

"I reiterate my condemnation of all violations of Lebanese sovereignty and my call for Israel to cease its violations of Lebanese airspace and to withdraw its forces from northern Ghajar and the adjacent area north of the Blue Line," said the Secretary-General.

The Blue Line is a border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel published by the UNited Nations in 2000.