Pakistan condemns Israeli attacks on Lebanon at UNSC meeting

Statement by Ambassador Usman Jadoon,
Deputy Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN,
At the UN Security Council Emergency Meeting regarding the Situation in Lebanon
(11 March 2026)
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Mr. President,

I thank USG Di Carlo, USG Lacroix, USG Fletcher and Ms.… pic.twitter.com/U1cnuzFgSW

“The people of Lebanon have consistently demonstrated remarkable resilience and have maintained a vibrant social fabric based on coexistence among diverse communities and traditions,” he said.

He said Lebanon needed a period of calm to achieve its goals of peace and stability, warning that renewed hostilities posed a serious risk.

He told the council that recent tensions and renewed clashes not only threaten infrastructure but also put civilian lives at grave risk and risk reversing the fragile political and security progress Lebanon had begun to achieve before the current crisis.

“Pakistan strongly condemns Israel’s continued military aggression in southern Lebanon,” he said, adding that the attacks had resulted in the deaths of more than 400 civilians, including at least 83 children and 42 women, while more than 600,000 people had been displaced.

AFP reported that according to the United Nations, Israeli air strikes and evacuation orders have forced nearly 700,000 people to flee their homes in Lebanon within just over a week.

Karolina Lindholm Billing, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees representative in Lebanon, said the latest escalation had compelled families to flee their homes within minutes after Israeli air strikes and evacuation warnings were issued to residents of dozens of villages.

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“More than 667,000 people in Lebanon have now registered on the government’s online platform as displaced,” she said, noting that the figure had risen by more than 100,000 in a single day.

Lebanese authorities said on Monday that Israeli attacks since March 2 have killed at least 486 people and wounded at least 1,313.

The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, said 84 of those killed were children.

“Large-scale destruction of civilian infrastructure and blatant violations of international humanitarian law must cease immediately,” said the Pakistani diplomat.

He stressed that the use of force in Lebanon should remain the prerogative of the Lebanese state through its legitimate constitutional institutions. “The Lebanese Armed Forces play a central role in this regard, and Pakistan supports efforts to strengthen their capacity and operational effectiveness,” Jadoon said.

The Pakistani envoy also condemned attacks on United Nations peacekeepers serving under the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

He said that Pakistan strongly condemns attacks against UN peacekeepers serving under the UN flag, including those injured in Israeli strikes. He added that the safety and security of peacekeepers must be ensured at all times.

Jadoon further described Israeli military activities in southern Lebanon, including the continued presence of forces and the establishment of positions inside Lebanese territory, as “illegal and unacceptable”.

Read More: Lebanon says Israeli attacks kill nearly 300 since Monday

“We call on Israel to immediately, fully and unconditionally withdraw from all occupied Lebanese territories,” he said.

He stressed that lasting peace required the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, and respect for Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity along the Blue Line.

Jadoon also warned that the situation in Lebanon could not be separated from wider tensions in the Middle East. “At this delicate juncture, negotiation and diplomacy must take precedence over confrontation,” he said. “De-escalation, restraint and renewed diplomatic engagement are urgently needed.”

Concluding his remarks, the Pakistani envoy said Islamabad stood firmly with the Lebanese government and people.

“The international community must act urgently to prevent further escalation, alleviate human suffering and support Lebanon’s efforts to restore peace and stability across its territory,” he added.

Despite a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah since November 2024, Israel has continued near-daily violations that have left hundreds dead and wounded.

Israel has killed more than 4,000 people and wounded 17,000 during an offensive in Lebanon that began in October 2023 and escalated into a full-scale war in September 2024.

Lebanon was dragged into the wider ‌Middle East war on Monday when Hezbollah fired at Israel, which responded with a new military campaign that has killed nearly 300 people and forced hundreds of thousands of Lebanese from their homes.

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In the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of Hezbollah, buildings lay in mounds of smoking rubble and twisted metal, Reuters footage showed.

Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a separate ​statement that the Lebanese government and all of Lebanon would "pay a heavy price" if Hezbollah is not disarmed. Israel had no territorial claims against Lebanon but would not allow cross-border fire, Katz said.

Lebanon's government instructed the army last year to establish a state monopoly on arms. Troops had confiscated Hezbollah's weapons in parts of the south but senior Lebanese officials and security sources said pursuing the plan could cause internal tensions as the group had ​refused to give up its arsenals in full.

An Israeli military official told Reuters Israeli military operations were now acting "to remove the threat from Lebanon."

Overnight, Israeli helicopters dropped troops near Nabi Chit in Lebanon's ​eastern Bekaa Valley.

Israel's military said the troops staged the operation to seek the remains of Ron Arad, an Israeli airforce navigator missing in Lebanon since 1986 but no findings related to him were recovered.