Nikki Haley Urges UN to Increase Efforts Against Hezbollah in Lebanon

NEW YORK CITY — U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has urged the UN to up its efforts in Lebanon to stop the movement of illegal arms to Hezbollah terrorists — the latest move by Haley as she seeks to crack down on the terrorist group’s movements in the region.

Commenting in response to the request by UN Secretary-General António Guterres for the renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Haley said she shared Guterres’ wish for UNIFIL to stop the spread of illegal arms in southern Lebanon. But she focused on the movements of Hezbollah and called on UNIFIL to increase its commitment to reporting on Hezbollah’s movements.

“These arms – which are almost entirely in the hands of Hezbollah terrorists – threaten the security and stability of the region,” she said. “UNIFIL must increase its capacity and commitment to investigating and reporting these violations.”

In July, Haley criticized the UN Security Council for obsessing over Israel while ignoring the crimes committed by groups such as Hezbollah.

“But truth be told, the Security Council often makes the Middle East more complicated than it actually is. It obsesses over Israel,” she said, “and it refuses to acknowledge one of the chief sources of conflict and killing in the Middle East – that is, Iran and its partner militia, Lebanese Hezbollah.”

She also blasted the Council for refusing to even name Hezbollah:  “Remarkably, this Council cannot even bring itself to use the word ‘Hezbollah’ in recent resolutions or statements on Lebanon. Many here are happy to name Israel, time after time, but Hezbollah is somehow off limits,” she said. “It’s absurd. Worse than that, it’s dangerous.”

On Monday she said that the U.S. seeks “significant improvements” to UNIFIL’s actions in the regions on that question.

“The United States will continue to raise the threat posed by Hezbollah as we seek significant improvements to UNIFIL when the Security Council renews its mandate this month,” she said.

 

Adam Shaw is a Breitbart News politics reporter based in New York. Follow Adam on Twitter:  @AdamShawNY