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2024-10-11 Syria-Lebanon-Iran
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UN says some peacekeepers moving as Israel blasted over fire on UNIFIL posts
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[IsraelTimes] IDF says it told interim force to enter protected spaces before tank fire that injured two Blue Helmets at Naqoura headquarters in southern Lebanon, sparking wide condemnation
Two peacekeepers were injured by Israeli fire, the UN said Thursday, sparking condemnation from the international community and focusing attention on the force’s role along the conflict-strewn border.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, which has some 10,000 peacekeepers charged with keeping arms and militias out of southern Lebanon, said Israel Defense Forces troops opened fire at three positions held by UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Thursday.
“This morning, two peacekeepers were injured after an IDF Merkava tank fired its weapon toward an observation tower at UNIFIL’s headquarters in Naqura, directly hitting it and causing them to fall,” the mission said, using an acronym for the Israeli military.
The two peacekeepers were from Indonesia’s contingent and were in good condition after being treated for light injuries, Indonesia Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in a statement.
Israel acknowledged its forces had been operating in the area. It says fighters from the Hezbollah terror group it is battling have been operating near UN posts. It said it instructed the UN forces in the area to shelter in protected spaces before opening fire.
UNIFIL also accused the IDF of firing on UN position 1-31 in Labbouneh over the past two days. It said Israel had “deliberately fired at” perimeter cameras on Wednesday, and on Thursday had hit “a bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering.”
Various national spokespersons condemning or deploring snipped. At a UN Security Council meeting, the head of UN peacekeeping Jean-Pierre Lacroix said peacekeepers were at “serious risk.” He noted that 300 Blue Helmets had temporarily relocated to larger bases “with the movement of another 200 planned.”
Good idea. “The safety and security of peacekeepers is now increasingly in jeopardy,” Lacroix said, adding that UNIFIL peacekeepers are confined to their bases, and that one UNIFIL contractor had already been killed.
UN Ambassador Danny Danon urged peacekeepers to move north Thursday.
”You won’t lead, you won’t follow, and you won’t do your damned job. So please get out of the way, because we will do it for you.” “Our recommendation is that UNIFIL relocate 5 km (3 miles) north to avoid danger as fighting intensifies and while the situation along the Blue Line remains volatile as a result of Hezbollah’s aggression,” Danon said in a statement.
A spokesperson for UNIFIL told the Walla news site that the multinational force had rejected an Israeli request to evacuate posts along the Israeli-Lebanon border.
”Nyah nyah nya-nyah nyah!” “We are there because the Security Council has asked us to be there. So we are staying until the situation becomes impossible for us to operate,” UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told Reuters.
Hint: it’s already impossible. UNIFIL was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after the end of the 1978 conflict between the two nations. The UN expanded its mission under Resolution 1701 following the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah,
…which occurred because UNIFIL had failed to keep Hezbollah out of the area, and they were acting out… allowing peacekeepers to deploy along the Israeli border to help the Lebanese military extend its authority into the country’s south for the first time in decades.
Resolution 1701 calls for southern Lebanon to be free of armed groups aside from the Lebanese Armed Forces. Israel charges that both have been ineffective at keeping Hezbollah from building up arms and other infrastructure in southern Lebanon.
Danon told the Security Council that resolution 1701 must be enforced, along with resolution 1559, which was adopted in 2004, and “calls for the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias.”
Hopefully third time’s the charm. “We are fulfilling our obligations to ensure this, and the council must support us in our efforts,” he said.
In a letter recent letter to the UN Security Council, Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused UNIFIL of failing to do its job, and included a map illustrating the short distance between a Hezbollah tunnel uncovered by Israeli forces and a UN base some 150 meters away, according to a Channel 12 news report.
“Israel has the right to take all necessary measures to protect itself and its citizens from ongoing hostilities by Hezbollah,” Katz wrote in the letter acquired by the Hebrew language media outlet. “While Israel does not seek full-scale war, it will take all necessary actions to restore security along its northern border and to ensure the safe return of its citizens to their homes and communities.”
Lacroix said it was up to Israel and Lebanon to ensure the resolution is upheld.
“UNIFIL is mandated to support the implementation of resolution 1701, but we must insist that it is for the parties themselves to implement the provisions of this resolution,” he told the Security Council.
In the year before the IDF ground invasion into Lebanon, UNIFIL facilities or vehicles were hit by shelling or gunfire on several occasions. In August, UNIFIL said three peacekeepers were on patrol and were lightly injured when an explosion occurred near their vehicle.
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Posted by trailing wife 2024-10-11 2024-10-11 00:31||
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File under: Hezbollah
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Posted by Grom the Reflective 2024-10-11 04:12||
2024-10-11 04:12||
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Posted by Deacon Blues 2024-10-11 09:18||
2024-10-11 09:18||
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Posted by Grom the Reflective 2024-10-11 09:20||
2024-10-11 09:20||
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Posted by Grom the Reflective 2024-10-11 09:25||
2024-10-11 09:25||
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