The Israeli army once again directly attacked the positions of the UN peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL (UNIFIL), deployed in southern Lebanon for the second day in a row. The attack occurred in Naqoura, where the headquarters is located, and injured two “blue helmets”, as a UN source reported to the Reuters agency. There are no Spaniards among the injured, as confirmed to elDiario.es by the Ministry of Defense.
Several explosions took place against an observation tower and Lebanese media indicate that the injured came from the Sri Lankan detachment. Additionally, Israeli bulldozers tore down the perimeter walls of another UN position in Labbouneh, which was also attacked on Thursday.
“This morning, the Naqoura base was hit by explosions for the second time in 48 hours. Two peacekeepers were injured. “One of them was transferred to a hospital in Tire and the second is being treated in Naqoura,” UNIFIL said in a statement.
“Today, several walls at our UN position 1-31, near the Blue Line in Labbouneh, collapsed when an Israeli army bulldozer hit the perimeter and tanks approached the vicinity of the UN position,” the statement said. “Our peacekeepers remained on site and a UNIFIL rapid reaction force was dispatched to assist and reinforce the position. »
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a statement on the incident in which it justified the attack as “an immediate threat to soldiers.” “An initial review indicates that during the incident, an attack was identified against a UNIFIL post located approximately 50 meters from the source of the threat,” the military statement said. “A few hours earlier, the IDF had instructed mission personnel to enter the protected areas and remain there. “This decree was in force at the time of the events,” he adds.
On Thursday, Israeli troops opened fire on several positions of the international mission and also injured two peacekeepers when they fell from an observation tower at the Naqoura base.
The Israeli military said Friday it was conducting a review of what happened, while Israel’s U.N. ambassador said Thursday his “recommendation” is that the peacekeeping force moves five kilometers north “to avoid danger as fighting intensifies and the situation along the Blue Line remains unstable due to Hezbollah aggression.”
UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix told the Security Council on Thursday that the mission’s soldiers remained at their posts “in accordance with the mandate provided by the Council”. “The safety of peacekeepers is increasingly under threat. These actions show little respect for the protection that international law affords to United Nations facilities and personnel. “We strongly protested to the Israeli authorities,” he added. Lacroix denounced the fact that the Israeli army and Hezbollah had established positions near UN installations.
The army issued another statement on Thursday in which it accused Hezbollah of operating “from within and near civilian areas”, including “areas close to UNIFIL posts” and assured that its forces maintained a regular communication with the UN mission.
Diplomatic response
France, Spain and Italy have demanded explanations from Israel through diplomatic channels after members of the United Nations peacekeepers were injured in attacks on Thursday and Friday.
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Israeli ambassador to Paris this Friday after the two consecutive attacks against the UN peacekeeping mission. “These attacks constitute serious violations of international law and must stop immediately,” denounced the ministry in a press release. “The Israeli authorities must give explanations,” he added, justifying their decision. President Emmanuel Macron said he would not tolerate Israel “deliberately” attacking peacekeepers, which he called “unacceptable.” “We condemn it, we do not tolerate it and we will not tolerate it happening again,” he said on Friday.
The Spanish Foreign Ministry also condemned the new attacks on the mission and “demands that Israel immediately end these attacks and comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law.” This morning, Foreign Affairs summoned the charge d’affaires of the Israeli embassy “to protest against the unjustified attacks by the Israeli army against UN positions in Lebanon.”
A day earlier, after Thursday’s attack, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto summoned Israel’s ambassador to Rome and also addressed his “formal” protest to the United Nations.
For his part, American Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reaffirmed Washington’s support for his Israeli counterpart, but urged him “to guarantee the security of UNIFIL forces and to coordinate efforts to pass as quickly as possible military operations through diplomatic channels. »
A withdrawal of Hezbollah from South Lebanon?
The Lebanese army announced the death of two of its soldiers following Israeli fire against one of its positions in southern Lebanon. In total, four Lebanese soldiers died in the Israeli attacks.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday called on the UN Security Council to make a decision in favor of an “immediate and complete ceasefire”, and said his government was prepared to deploy the Lebanese army in the south of the country and that the pro-Iranian group “Hezbollah” is of the same opinion.
“Resolution (1701) remains valid. Hezbollah also agrees. Hezbollah is a partner of this government and has agreed today on this issue, and I don’t think there is any doubt,” Mikati said. Resolution 1701 establishes that neither Hezbollah nor Israel can be present in southern Lebanon, where only the deployment of UN forces and the Lebanese army is authorized.
“We have decided (…) to ask the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution for an immediate and complete ceasefire,” Mikati said at a press conference after of a meeting of the Lebanese Council of Ministers, during which he stressed, for the first time, Hezbollah “also agrees”.
Mikati, however, insisted that “the international community must engage the Israeli enemy in Resolution 1701 which ended the 2006 Lebanon-Israel war.
Israel wants to confiscate land from UNRWA in Jerusalem
Israel wants to confiscate the land where the headquarters of the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) is located in East Jerusalem and intends to transform the building into apartment buildings with 1,440 houses, according to several local media published Thursday.
“We learned about it on Thursday from the Israeli media. UNRWA has not received any writing on this subject from the Israeli authorities,” the agency’s spokesperson told elDiario.es.
Likud MK Dan Iloz told the Israel Hayom newspaper that “the expropriation of land in Jerusalem is an important step, but not enough” and denounced UNRWA as “a breeding ground for terrorism under the guise of humanitarianism.”
The move comes shortly after the Israeli Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved two bills aimed at banning the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA. The projects will now go to second and third reading before becoming law.
