Israel: ‘UN Peacekeepers Support Hezbollah’
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Israel on Monday accused the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) of allowing Hezbollah to set up military bases and store its weapons on the border with the Jewish nation.
Video published by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and seen by Worthy News suggested that weapons of the Iran-backed group were placed near at least one base of UNIFIL, the U.N. peacekeeping force.
The IDF said they saw in southern Lebanon a Hezbollah outpost about a mere 300 yards (275 meters) from the border with Israel.
Hezbollah has fired around 25 rockets and missiles in the last month from sites located near UNIFIL sites, according to Israeli military officials.
The IDF accused the armed group of “exploiting their proximity to UN forces.”
Their comments came as Israel came under international pressure after the UNIFIL in southern Lebanon said Israeli tanks forcibly entered the gates of one position Sunday and destroyed the main gate.
They allegedly also fired smoke rounds near peacekeepers, causing 15 UNIFIL troops to suffer skin irritations and gastrointestinal reactions, officials said.
VIOLATING INTERNATIONAL LAW
The UNIFIL called the incident a “further flagrant violation of international law.”
However, the IDF said it had infringed on a UNIFIL position to evacuate Israeli soldiers who had been wounded by an anti-tank missile.
It said two soldiers had been “seriously injured” in the attack, with others suffering lesser degrees of injury. “For the sake of evacuating the wounded, two tanks drove backward, in a place where they could not advance otherwise in light of the threat of shooting, a few meters towards the UNIFIL position,” the IDF explained.
It added that during the incident, a smoke screen was fired to aid the evacuation – and that it had “maintained continuous contact” with UNIFIL, stressing there was “no threat to the UNIFIL force from IDF activities.”
At least some five peacekeepers have been wounded in attacks that struck their positions in recent days, most of them blamed on Israeli forces, observers said. Among them, two Indonesian soldiers were injured Thursday falling from an observation tower after an Israeli tank fired towards it, the U.N. said.
Separately two Lebanese soldiers were killed and wounded, and three other troops were injured on Friday when an Israeli airstrike hit a building near a military checkpoint in Kafra, Bint Jbeil province in southern Lebanon, the country’s military said.
The Israeli military claimed, however, that it targeted Hezbollah positions in the area when reports emerged that it struck several Lebanese army soldiers.
INVESTIGATING INCIDENT
The IDF investigated the incident but said they remained “unaware of any Lebanese army facilities found in the strike area.”
These incidents have sparked anger among several of Israel’s allies, including France, Italy, Spain, and Britain, which said it was “appalled.” However, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that European leaders should direct their criticism towards Hezbollah, not Israel.
Israeli forces have repeatedly fired on peacekeepers since the start of its ground operation in Lebanon two weeks ago, according to U.N. sources.
However, Israel has urged the peacekeeping force to withdraw from areas of southern Lebanon where fighting was taking place after it began a ground incursion on September 30 targeting the armed group Hezbollah.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told UNIFIL to “immediately” get its troops “out of harm’s way” in a video statement, claiming that their presence in the area made them “hostages of Hezbollah.”
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned any attacks on peacekeepers “may constitute a war crime,” adding that “UNIFIL personnel and its premises must never be targeted.”
Nearly 10,000 peacekeepers from 50 countries are stationed in Lebanon, alongside around 800 civilian staff. Since 1978, they have patrolled the area between the Litani River and the U.N.-recognized boundary between Lebanon and Israel, known as the “Blue Line.”
Israel has asked UNIFIL to withdraw north by 5 kilometers (3 miles) to enable it to destroy Hezbollah, one of Iran’s proxies that it says threatens its existence.
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