BBC continues to ignore Hizballah violations in south Lebanon

Violations of UN Security Council resolution 1701 get no BBC coverage.

Back in June 2017 we noted that the BBC had ignored a story about Hizballah setting up outposts close to the Israel-Lebanon border, under the guise of an environmental group, in violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701.

This week – as the Jerusalem Post and others reported – the IDF announced the discovery of another such outpost, this time near Kibbutz Misgav Am.

al-Adisa from Misgav Am

“The IDF has accused Hezbollah of once again violating United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 after uncovering an observation post used by the Lebanese Shi’ite terrorist group along Israel’s northern border.

The group attempted to conceal the post – located in the al-Adisa village opposite Kibbutz Misgav Am, about one kilometer from the border – under the guise of the fictitious environmental NGO “Green Without Borders.”

The IDF says it was the sixth such post discovered in the past couple of years. Similar to those uncovered last year, this one also acted as a forward observation post to gather intelligence on IDF troops. […]

According to the military, while it has voiced its concerns to the United Nations about the area, the terrorist group has prevented members of the UN and United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) from investigating the area, claiming that it is private land.

“This is a blatant, daily violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which prohibits any armed military presence south of the Litani River except for the Lebanese army and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon,” the army said.”

Not too long after it was first revealed that Hizballah was using a fictitious ‘green’ NGO to mask its activities along the border a new BBC correspondent arrived in Beirut. BBC audiences have however seen no reporting on last year’s story or – to date – the latest one concerning Hizballah’s ‘Green Without Borders’ front. 

The absence of up to date BBC reporting on the situation in southern Lebanon and UNIFIL’s failure to implement UNSC resolution 1701 obviously means that if and when conflict between Israel and Hizballah does break out again, the corporation’s audiences – as well as the journalists it sends to cover the events – will lack the background information crucial to proper understanding of that story. 

Related Articles:

Another UN SC resolution violation goes unreported by the BBC

Will the new man in Beirut improve the BBC’s record of reporting?

Reviewing BBC reporting of Hizballah’s violations of UNSC Resolution 1701

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