UN peacekeepers in Lebanon say Israel deliberately fired on their bases | Israel

The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said its bases in the country “deliberately” came under Israeli fire, injuring two peacekeepers and damaging U.N. infrastructure.

Israel has repeatedly carried out ground attacks across the border into Lebanon in its war with Hezbollah. Against the backdrop of devastating civilian casualties in Gaza and rising death tolls in Lebanon, relations with the United Nations have continued to deteriorate.

A UN report released on Thursday accused Israel of pursuing a concerted policy of destroying Gaza’s health system in the war in Gaza, saying this constituted war crimes and that eradication was a crime against humanity.

The report was written by a UN-commissioned panel of experts led by former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay.

Before presenting the full report to the UN General Assembly on October 30, Pillay released a preview of his findings, saying Israel had carried out “relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities” over the course of the war, triggered by a Hamas attack on October 7th last year in southern Israel.

“Children in particular have borne the brunt of these attacks and are suffering both directly and indirectly from the collapse of the health system,” Pillay said.

There was no immediate reaction from Israel, which has repeatedly accused the United Nations of institutional bias against Israel.

The International Court of Justice is currently examining claims led by South Africa that Israel committed genocide in Gaza, and the International Criminal Court is considering calls for war crimes arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu, his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar.

The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said an Israeli tank fired on an observation tower at the force’s headquarters in Naqoura, north of the Lebanese border, knocking down two Indonesian peacekeepers.

“Fortunately, the injuries this time are not serious, but they remain in hospital,” Unifil said in a statement, adding that deliberate attacks on UN peacekeepers constituted a “serious violation” of international law.

Unifil said Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers also fired on a UN observation post in Labbouneh, just a few hundred meters from the border, hitting “the entrance to the bunker where peacekeepers were taking shelter, and vehicles and a communications system.” damaged”.

The Unifil statement made it clear that the peacekeepers believed the attacks on their positions were not accidental, suggesting they were premeditated.

“An IDF drone was observed flying within the UN position up to the bunker entrance,” it said. “Yesterday, IDF soldiers intentionally shot at and disabled the position’s surveillance cameras.”

Unifil also said Israeli forces had “deliberately” fired on a UN facility at a coastal border point where peacekeepers were holding trilateral meetings with Israeli and Lebanese officers before the current conflict erupted.

Unifil said any deliberate attack on peacekeepers would be a “grave violation of international humanitarian law” and Security Council Resolution 1701.

The Irish government, which has a contingent of troops in Unifil, said none of its peacekeepers were injured, but Taoiseach Simon Harris said attacks on peacekeepers “can never be tolerated or accepted.”

There was no immediate response from the IDF to a request for comment on the Unifil incidents.

The attacks on Unifil positions came two days after a standoff between Israeli forces and 30 Irish peacekeepers at a UN border observation post after the IDF parked more than two dozen tanks and other armored vehicles around the position last Saturday.

Israeli forces finally withdrew on Tuesday, but only after a flurry of calls from the Taoiseach and the Irish foreign minister to UN chiefs and Joe Biden.

Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin said Thursday’s incidents involving firing at UN positions were “unacceptable”.

“Peacekeeping is the noblest thing anyone can do,” Martin added. “UN peacekeepers are there to keep the peace at the invitation of both sides of this conflict, and Israel has a duty to ensure that no UN peacekeeper is put in harm’s way.”

Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition has become increasingly aggressive toward the United Nations, particularly toward Unrwa, the organization’s aid agency for Palestinian refugees, which Israel says has been infiltrated by Hamas. An internal United Nations investigation found in August that nine Unrwa employees may have been involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that killed 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and took 250 hostage.

An Israeli parliamentary committee passed two bills this week that would ban Unrwa from operating on Israeli territory. The agency’s head, Philippe Lazzarini, told the United Nations that passing the draft laws by the full Knesset would be a violation of Israel’s obligations under the UN Charter and international law and that it could lead to UNRWA’s disintegration.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said Unrwa’s infiltration was “so deep-rooted, so institutional, that the organization is simply beyond repair.”