Beirut, March 22 (Petra) – Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Saturday that Israeli shelling of Southern Lebanese towns is a blatant aggression and a blow to efforts to "rescue" the country.

"What happened today has been going on since February 18 as Israel failed to live up to the letter of the ceasefire (deal), and is a new attempt to drag Lebanon to the cycle of violence," Aoun said in a statement.

He called on relevant bodies in the South, namely the monitoring committee set up under the November ceasefire deal and the Lebanese army, to control any violations and avoid any repercussions that could threaten the country.

Aoun asked Army Commander Brigadier General Rodolphe Haikal to take the "necessary field measures" to ensure the safety of citizens and investigate the circumstances that led to the latest flareup.

For his part, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned against renewed military operations on the southern border, which threaten to drag the country into a new war with dire consequences for Lebanon.

Salam made contacts with UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, calling on the United Nations to put pressure on Israel to withdraw completely from occupied Lebanese territory. He said the occupation is a violation of UN Resolution 1701 and ceasefire arrangements approved by the previous Lebanese government in October, to which Lebanon is committed.

//Petra//SS

22/03/2025 15:31:03