China Condemns Israel's Attacks on Lebanon

China's permanent representative to the United Nations, Fu Cong, strongly condemned the recent attacks on Lebanese civilians using wireless communication devices. He described the attacks as "outrageous" and "unheard of in history," calling for Israel to abandon its reliance on force and refrain from further actions that could destabilize the region.

Fu expressed deep concern over the escalating tensions between Lebanon and Israel during an emergency session of the UN Security Council. He urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint.

The tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border have been escalating since October 8, 2023, when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel in support of Hamas. The latest explosions of pagers and handheld radios across Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday resulted in 37 deaths and 2,931 injuries.

Fu said the attack using remote-controlled communication devices, which caused mass civilian casualties and panic, is "unheard of in history." He stated that such actions constitute "a serious violation of a nation's sovereignty and security, a blatant breach of international law, particularly humanitarian law, and a complete disregard for human life."

"The brutality of the attack and its heinous nature are outrageous and deserve the strongest condemnation. China called for a comprehensive and timely investigation into the incident to hold the planners and perpetrators accountable," Fu said.

Zhu Yongbiao, executive director of the Research Center for the Belt and Road at Lanzhou University, highlighted the dangerous precedent set by the attack. He warned that the destruction of a nation's critical infrastructure using these tools as weapons could provoke other terrorist or extremist forces.

Fu emphasized the precariousness of the current situation in the Middle East. He called on Israel to abandon its reliance on force, immediately cease its military operations in Gaza, stop infringing on Lebanon's sovereignty and security, and refrain from further actions that could plunge the region into new disasters.

The Chinese envoy's statement comes after Israel launched an air strike on the southern suburb of Lebanon's capital Beirut, killing at least 14 people and injuring 66 others, including five children. Additionally, multiple aerial bombs exploded around the camp of China's 22nd batch of peacekeeping troops in Lebanon on Thursday, causing damage but fortunately no injuries.