His Excellency UN Secretary-General António Guterres 
Office of the Secretary General – UN Secretariat Building
United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017

December 19, 2022

Your Excellency Secretary-General Guterres:

We at the American Mideast Coalition for Democracy wish to express our sincere condolences on the death of an Irish UN peacekeeper in Lebanon.

This is a tragedy which should not have happened.

UNSC Resolution 1559, calling for the disbanding of all militias in Lebanon, has never been fully implemented. We call on the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to work with the Lebanese Security Forces to gradually implement this resolution to disarm and disband Hezbollah in South Lebanon and not allow Iran to continue its stranglehold on the country through the use of its proxy militia. Furthermore, we have submitted a plan to the US Congress to condition any military aid to Lebanese Armed Forces by implementing a free zone area outside Hezbollah territories as steps to implement UNSCR 1559 (see maps here).

Tensions between Hezbollah and UN peacekeepers has been rising for a long time. Naturally, the Iranian terrorist organization denied responsibility for the shooting, but UNIFIL’s commander told a Hezbollah official: “If you are not directly responsible for the incident, you are responsible for inciting the popular environment in the South against us.”

As you know, the Islamic Republic of Iran is engaged in the mass arrests and executions of its citizens who are protesting their treatment at the hands of this regime. The people of Lebanon are likewise threatened and intimidated by Iran’s proxy Hezbollah on a daily basis.

The Lebanese people can be freed from this menace if the UN takes strong and decisive action. This killing of a peacekeeper should be the catalyst that ensures such action is taken.

Your sincerely,

AMCD Co-Chairs,

Tom Harb and John Hajjar