UNITED NATIONS, October 21. /TASS/. Israel is taking action in Lebanon without much heeding US advice, Russia's envoy to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said.

"As for the US position with regard to the Israeli-Lebanese confrontation, the same logic is in play here as in the case of Gaza. The Israelis are consistently increasing military activity without regard to their main strategic ally. To put it differently, the tail is wagging the dog. Perhaps this is due not so much to the unwillingness of the Americans to put excessive pressure on the Israeli leadership, but rather to their inability to influence the steps of West Jerusalem in any way," he said in an interview with TASS.

"Normalization in the Lebanese-Israeli border area is hardly achievable without a cessation of hostilities in Gaza," Nebenzya said. "Incidentally, Hezbollah leadership has repeatedly reiterated its readiness to end the confrontation as soon as there is a ceasefire in the enclave. And as it happens, the group’s leaders supported the ceasefire proposal of September 21. But this did not suit Israel, which started its operation."

On September 23, Israel started a military operation codenamed Northern Arrows against Hezbollah in Lebanon, carrying out widespread strikes at the group’s military sites. In a strike on September 27 Israel eliminated Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut. Overnight into October 1, Israel announced the start of a ground operation in the border areas of southern Lebanon.