https://link.foreignpolicy.com/view/644279f41a7f1f1e29de6831m1rvw.gey/92ff380f
Israel Fires on U.N. Peacekeepers
Armored vehicles with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon are seen patrolling southern Lebanon on Oct. 8.AFP via Getty Images
Israeli forces fired on several positions used by United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Wednesday and Thursday. According to the Lebanese mission, known as UNIFIL, Israeli soldiers targeted its headquarters at Ras Naqoura, “hitting the entrance to the bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering, and damaging vehicles and a communications system.”
Two peacekeepers from Indonesia were injured. “Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law,” UNIFIL said, adding that it was following up with the Israeli military, which also “deliberately fired at and disabled” U.N.-operated perimeter-monitoring cameras. Israel has not commented on the incidents.
UNIFIL was established in 1978 and expanded following the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. Its focus is to secure the Lebanese side of the 75-mile Blue Line, a de facto border between the two nations that U.N. Resolution 1701 says no one can fire or move across without permission from the Lebanese government. More than 10,000 peacekeepers from 50 countries are stationed in the area.
Israel has recently accused UNIFIL of failing in its mission by allowing Hezbollah to entrench itself along the Blue Line. The militant group has engaged in tit-for-tat operations against Israel since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack. Beginning this month, Israel launched a limited ground incursion into southern Lebanon in hopes of facilitating the return of tens of thousands of Israelis forced to evacuate their homes in Israel’s north due to Hezbollah rocket fire.
Some Israeli operations have hit near U.N. Post 6-52, where 30 Irish UNIFIL peacekeepers remain stationed despite Israel warning them to evacuate.
More than 2,100 people in Lebanon have been killed in the past year, the vast majority of them in recent weeks, and as many as 1.2 million others have been displaced. On the Israeli side, Hezbollah attacks have killed at least 53 people over the same period, more than half of whom were civilians.
“Too many lives have been lost, uprooted, and devastated, while civilians on both sides of the Blue Line are left wanting for security and stability,” said the U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon and the head of UNIFIL on Tuesday in a joint statement calling for negotiations to end the conflict.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a 30-minute phone call with U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday to discuss Israel’s plans to retaliate against Iran for its ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1. This was the first time that the two allies spoke in almost two months, reflecting a fissure in their relationship. Tehran backs both Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
Biden “condemned unequivocally” Iran’s attack on Israel but urged Netanyahu not to hit Iranian nuclear or energy sites. The White House fears that such a response could lead to an escalating cycle of violence between Israel and Iran, pushing the region toward a wider war. It is unclear whether Netanyahu will heed Biden’s warnings. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that “our attack will be deadly, precise, and above all surprising.”