Israel’s latest target has been the UN; more precisely, their peacekeepers. This is why they must feel unpunished. At least, This time, the United States reacted, as did Europe.. The same American President, Joe Biden, demanded this Friday afternoon that Netanyahu stop his offensive, which the Blue Helmets are not touching. An attack against which Spain also protested (the head of the UNIFIL mission is a Spanish general). It is for this reason that he summoned Israel’s charge d’affaires in our country, the highest authority since the withdrawal of the ambassador.
Similar measures have been taken in recent hours by Italy and France. In fact, the three Europartners published, shortly before Biden spoke, a joint statement of condemnation. “Leaders of three countries express outrage after several peacekeepers were injured in Naqura, Lebanon. These attacks constitute a serious violation of Israel’s obligations under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1071 and international humanitarian law,” they said in the letter sent to Spain from La Moncloa.
However, on the ground, UNIFIL is once again the victim of Israeli fire: two other peacekeepers injured in Lebanon. And in the capital Beirut, also in recent hours, Israel committed its largest massacre to date. At least 22 people died in a residential area. Three buildings collapsed and, shortly after the attack, fires persisted following the explosions.
In a few minutes, the neighborhood, where the working classes live together, became a coming and going of neighbors searching for their belongings among the rubble. This area had not been affected by the war until now and therefore had not received a prior evacuation order. Currently, Lebanon is in mourning and the general feeling among its citizens is that There are no longer any safe areas in the country. For its part, the Israeli excuse is the same as always: that of eliminating a Hezbollah commander.
UNIFIL, Lebanon… but what about Iran? Since the Asian country launched a shower of ballistic missiles on Israeli territory, we have not heard a response from Netanyahu’s troops. Until now. Israel has already declared that, for the moment, it will not attack. The reason: they celebrate Yom Kippur, their “day of forgiveness”. It is a religious holiday dedicated to reflection and repentance. It had been 51 years since they had experienced war. This, from Israel; They demand more from Iran, much more from the West.
EU once again calls for ceasefire
And precisely, the leaders of nine southern European Union countries, meeting in the Cypriot coastal town of Pafos, called for a ceasefire in the Middle East and expressed their concern about the escalation of violence between Israel and Hezbollah. “We call for an immediate ceasefire along the Blue Line and timely delivery of humanitarian aid to Lebanon“, declared in a joint statement the governments of Cyprus, Croatia, Slovenia, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Malta and Portugal.
The 120 kilometer Blue Line, located in southern Lebanon, was established by the UN in 2000 to a “withdrawal demarcation” of Israeli troops. Cyprus, an island country located 250 kilometers from Lebanon, hosted the MED9 summit, attended by the heads of state or government of its nine member countries. The joint statement also condemns the rocket attacks by the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah towards Israel, as well as Iran’s recent missile attack and the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023.
