UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned on Friday the firing of Katyusha rockets from Lebanon on the Galilee town of Shlomi on Tuesday.
In a statement issued in New York, the Secretary General said he "strongly condemns the firing of rockets against Israel on 8 January. UNIFIL is continuing its investigation to determine the launch site. The Secretary General to reiterate that if the rockets were launched from Lebanese territory as is likely, the incident would constitute a serious violation of Security Council Resolution 1701."
Also on Friday, Israel protested to the United Nations in New York, after the international peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon - UNIFIL - concluded that it was unable to prove that the Katyusha strike was carried out by armed groups on Lebanese soil.
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Israeli diplomats at the UN said that UNIFIL's failure to definitively state that the attack emanated from Lebanon is the reason behind Libya's opposition to a Security Council resolution condemning the incident.
Meanwhile, the Security Council condemned Katyusha rocket fire from Lebanon that struck Shlomi in northern Israel, according to a report by Army Radio.
Israeli ambassador to the UN Gilad Cohen, who led efforts to get the condemnation passed, was quoted by Army Radio as saying "it's crucial the Security Council condemn such acts. It was a grave violation of UN resolution 1701 and a threat to world peace and security."
For 48 hours, Libyan ambassador Giadalla Ettalhi, sitting head of the UN Security Council, fought efforts to have the condemnation passed, and tried in vain to have it include criticism of Israel Air Force violations of Lebanon airspace, against the wishes of Israel, the U.S., and France.
The condemnation also criticized a roadside bombing that wounded two UNIFIL soldiers on Tuesday and called for a stricter delineation of the 'blue line' in southern Lebanon, in order to prevent the accidental crossing of Lebanese into Israel the report stated.
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