10/15/2024October 15, 2024
UN Security Council expresses ‘strong concern’ over attacks on peacekeepers
The United Nations Security Council voiced “strong concern” over attacks on UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon days after at least five were wounded during fighting in the area.
The Security Council reiterated its support for the mission’s role “in supporting regional security” after a session late on Monday in New York City.
It follows a series of incidents in which members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers in southern Lebanon were wounded by Israeli military fire, often at their designated posts.
In one notable incident on Sunday, two , the UN said. At least five peacekeepers were injured. Israel has rejected the UN’s acocunt of the incident.
Members called on all parties “to respect the safety and security of UNIFIL personnel and UN premises,” said Switzerland’s UN envoy Pascale Baeriswyl, who serves as the acting president of the Security Council.
“They recall that UN peacekeepers and UN premises must never be the target of an attack,” he said.
UNIFIL is tasked with supporting efforts to disarm militias, including Hezbollah, in southern Lebanon and help the Lebanese army keep control of the area close to the border to Israel. Israel has criticized the peacekeeping operation for failing to keep Hezbollah weapons and fighters out of this region, a key part of its mandate.
Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday repeated a call for UNIFIL troops to leave certain areas near the border during its military operations. He accused Hezbollah of using the UNIFIL forces as “human shields,” staying in close proximity to them intentionally.
But the peacekeeping force has repeatedly said it will stay at all of its posts.
“A decision was made that UNIFIL will currently stay in all its positions, in spite of the calls that were made by the Israeli forces to vacate the positions that were in the vicinity of the blue line,” said the UN’s head of peacekeeping operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix.
mk/msh, zc (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)
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