The Russian Foreign Ministry charged yesterday that the Israeli hit on Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr breaches the very basic rules of international law and risks sparking a major conflict in the Middle East. The strike hit a residential area near one of Beirut’s major hospitals, the Ministry’s deputy spokesman Andrey Nastasyin told journalists during the weekly Foreign Ministry briefing. Several people, including a woman and two children, were killed in the strike, which left the hospital “badly damaged” and more than 80 people injured, he said. “Bahman Hospital suffered extensive damage,” he said.
“The Foreign Ministry strongly condemns Israel for carrying out this attack. It constitutes a grave violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and the basic tenets of international law. We believe military operations of this kind to be unacceptable, especially in densely built-up neighborhoods, given the high risk of civilian casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure,” said Nastasyin.
