Olusesan Oba
The Russian Federation has condemned Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in the Lebanese capital Beirut, describing it as “yet another political assassination”.
In a statement issued on Saturday by foreign ministry, it stated that “this forceful action is fraught with even greater dramatic consequences for Lebanon and the entire Middle East.”
“The Israeli side could not fail to recognise this danger, but took the step of killing Lebanese citizens, which would almost inevitably provoke a new outburst of violence. Thus, it bears full responsibility for the subsequent escalation,” RT quoted the ministry as said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had told a UN Security Council meeting on Friday that Israel’s actions in Lebanon only create a “spiral of violence” and risk plunging the entire Middle East into a new bloody conflict.
On Saturday, SaharaReporters reported that Israel announced the killing of group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah in the attack. Later Hezbollah confirmed the killing of their leader in a media statement.
Israel’s strikes “blatantly violate the sovereignty of… Lebanon,” Lavrov said in his remarks. “Indiscriminate attacks that lead to civilian casualties are absolutely unacceptable.”
The Russian minister also called for an “immediately stop” to the “spiral of violence” before the situation gets out of hand. He also stated that Israel would not be able to achieve its stated goals with such attacks.
“The path of war chosen by the West Jerusalem will not help it bring internally displaced people to the north of the country and will not bring security to the Israeli-Lebanese border area,” he said, adding that Israel failed to achieve its goals in the 2006 Lebanon war despite using “cutting-edge equipment and weapons.”
The Israeli bombings have already killed at least 558 people in Lebanon, including 50 children and 94 women, Lavrov said, adding that more than 1,600 were injured and “tens of thousands had to leave their homes.”
Israel and Hezbollah have sporadically exchanged fire over the past year as the latter had supported the Palestinian cause in light of West Jerusalem’s military operation against Hamas.
