Two Indonesian peacekeepers fell from an observation tower on Thursday after an Israeli tank fired on it. The tower stands inside the UN force’s headquarters at Naqoura, just north of the Lebanese border. Both men remain in hospital.
The mission, known as Unifil, was careful in its wording. “The injuries are fortunately, this time, not serious,” it said, adding that deliberate attacks on UN peacekeepers amount to a “grave violation” of international law.
It went further than that. Unifil said Israeli troops had also fired at its post at Labbouneh, a few hundred metres from the border, striking the entrance to a bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering and damaging vehicles and a communications system. An Israeli drone was seen flying inside the position as far as the bunker entrance. The day before, soldiers had “deliberately fired at and disabled” the post’s perimeter-monitoring cameras.
A third facility, on the coast, was hit too. Unifil said Israeli forces “deliberately fired” on the site where peacekeepers used to host tripartite meetings with Israeli and Lebanese officers before the present conflict began. Reuters reported no casualties from the attacks on the two UN positions.
The Israeli account
The Israel Defense Forces gave a brief statement. Its troops opened fire near the Unifil base, it said, after telling UN forces in the area on Thursday morning to remain in protected spaces. “Hezbollah operates from within and near civilian areas in southern Lebanon, including areas near Unifil posts,” the statement added.
Countries with troops on the ground
France, Italy, Indonesia, Malaysia and Ghana all supply soldiers to the force, and governments reacted quickly. Italy’s defence minister, Guido Crosetto, called the firing “totally unacceptable” and a clear breach of international law. The French foreign ministry condemned the attack and said it was waiting for an explanation from Israel.
Ireland, which has a contingent in Unifil, said none of its people were hurt. Taoiseach Simon Harris said attacks on peacekeepers “can never be tolerated or acceptable”. Foreign minister Micheál Martin called Thursday’s incidents “unacceptable” and said Israel “has an obligation to make sure that no UN peacekeeper gets into harm’s way”.
“Peacekeeping is the noblest thing anyone can do,” Martin said.
Dublin had already been through one standoff this week. Last Saturday, the IDF parked more than two dozen tanks and other armoured vehicles around a UN observation post on the border, where 30 Irish peacekeepers were stationed. Israeli forces withdrew on Tuesday, but only after the taoiseach and the Irish foreign minister made a flurry of calls to UN leaders and to Joe Biden.
A wider quarrel with the UN
The Guardian noted that Israel has been sending repeated ground incursions across the border into Lebanon in its war with Hezbollah, and that it was already under scrutiny elsewhere. A UN panel led by former UN human rights chief Navi Pillay published a report on Thursday accusing Israel of a concerted policy of destroying Gaza’s healthcare system. Israel has long accused the UN of institutional bias against it, and there was no immediate response to the report.
Relations over Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, are no warmer. An Israeli parliamentary committee approved two bills this week that would ban the agency from operating on Israeli territory. Its head, Philippe Lazzarini, told the UN that passage by the full Knesset would violate Israel’s obligations under the UN charter and could lead Unrwa to disintegrate. Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said infiltration of the agency was “so ingrained, so institutional, that the organisation is simply beyond repair”.
Sources
- Israeli forces fire on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, wounding two
- UN peacekeepers in Lebanon say Israel has fired on their bases deliberately
