A Financial Times article (“Israel to ‘demolish’ all houses in Lebanese border villages”, March 31) credited to James Shotter in Jerusalem and Raya Jalabi in Beirut, devotes most of the 700 word piece to Israeli plans to  maintain “security control” over “large swaths” of southern Lebanon. 

Though the FT journalists do quote Israel’s defence minister explaining that the IDF’s presence is aimed to protect its northern towns from the threat posed by Hezbollah’s continued presence, they don’t even once so much as allude to the November 2024 ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

The resolution requires the implementation of UN SC resolution 1701, calling for disarmament of “all armed groups” other than the Lebanese army, both south and norther of the Litani River.

Here’s the relevant paragraph:

“These understandings reflect steps to which Israel and Lebanon are committed in order to implement fully United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1701, recognizing that UNSCR 1701 also calls for full implementation of its predecessor UNSC resolutions, including “disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon”, so that the only forces authorized to carry arms in Lebanon will be the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), Internal Security Forces, Directorate of General Security, General Directorate of State Security, Lebanese Customs, and Municipal Police (hereinafter “Lebanon’s official military and security forces”). […]

The omission of Hezbollah’s violation of the 2024 ceasefire agreement, and UNSCR 1701, which the agreement is largely based on, means that readers are provided with a story focusing almost entirely on Israel’s actions while denying agency to the Shiite terrorist group.

Though the article does focus on “fears” that Israel “is preparing for a lasting occupation of Lebanese territory”, readers are told nothing about the fears of the overwhelming majority of Lebanese citizens about Hezbollah, the proscribed Iranian proxy group that has been illegally occupying large swaths of Lebanon while terrorising Israel’s northern communities.

The FT article ends by reporting the following:

Lebanon’s health ministry has recorded more than 1,268 deaths during the fighting, including children, women and medical personnel and rescue workers. It does not otherwise distinguish between civilians and militants.

FT readers aren’t provided with two relevant facts”: that Lebanon’s health ministry is run by a minister affiliated with Hezbollah, and that the IDF has claimed that some 900 Hezbollah operatives have been killed.

We’ll be complaining to FT editors on their omission of the relevant UN resolutions pertaining to the disarmament of Hezbollah, as well as their misleading claim about the Lebanese death toll.

Related Posts

The BBC’s Hezbollah Explainer – An Exercise in Narrative Laundering