Israel is arguing with the West over the withdrawal of UNIFIL from Lebanon. Prime Minister Netanyahu has called on the UN to withdraw the blue helmets, which otherwise serve as protective shields for Hezbollah. He calls attacks on UN troops “absolutely unacceptable”.
Israel clashes with the West over a dispute over the withdrawal of UN troops from southern Lebanon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the UN will respond to the army’s withdrawal request. “This has the effect of providing human shields to Hezbollah terrorists.” Energy Minister Eli Cohen said Monday that “X” should have protected Israel’s citizens.
“If the UN cannot help, they should at least not stand in the way and withdraw their personnel from war zones,” Cohen said. UN says Israel has repeatedly shelled troops. After a new incident, EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell criticized Israel’s actions as “absolutely unacceptable”. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has ruled out a withdrawal.
Israeli tanks breached the entrance to the UNIFIL base
Guterres further clarified that any attack on peacekeepers would constitute a war crime. UNIFIL reported another serious incident with the Israeli military over the weekend: Two Israeli tanks breached the gate of a Blue Helmet base on Sunday. After the tanks withdrew, several grenades also fell within 100 meters of the camp. Israel, in turn, said it was fighting nearby Hezbollah and that tanks were being used to rescue the wounded.
UN The Israeli army took journalists on Sunday to a tunnel dug 200 meters from the site. According to Israeli sources, it was developed several years ago and used by Hezbollah. Weapons were also found there.
UNIFIL’s blue helmets have repeatedly come under fire in recent days. At least five of them were injured. Most of the attacks were attributed to Israeli troops using air and ground forces to fight radical Islamist Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. 4 soldiers were killed in an Israeli drone attack on an Israeli military base.
Clear criticism from the US, Spain and Italy
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant in a phone call on Sunday to ensure the safety of UN troops and the regular Lebanese army.
EU foreign policy chief Borrell told a meeting of foreign ministers in Luxembourg that the community had long been silent on Israel’s actions against UNIFIL. EU countries such as Spain, France and Italy have sent 10,000 UN troops to the conflict zone between southern Lebanon and northern Israel. Provided thousands of players. According to its own information, the Austrian armed forces currently have around 160 UNIFIL soldiers.
Spain condemned the attacks on UNIFIL, as did Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. According to his office, Meloni stressed in a phone call with Netanyahu that the attacks on UNIFIL are unacceptable. Meloni is one of the most vocal supporters of Israel among Western European leaders and governments in general. In a joint statement, 34 countries pledged their full support to the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon. They urged all parties to the conflict to respect UNIFIL’s presence.
Israel wants to declare UN Secretary-General Guterres stateless
Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz reiterated the decision to declare Guterres a non-persona. He denied entry to the UN leadership on October 2 because he accused him of not condemning Iran’s missile attack the previous day. Then the UN The Security Council stood behind Guterres in protest.
The Islamic Republic fired more than 180 rockets at Israel on October 1 as fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah escalated in the Gaza Strip. Since then, an Israeli counterattack has been expected. According to a media report, it is believed in US government sources that Israel has narrowed down the targets of potential retaliation to Iranian military and energy system infrastructure. NBC reported, citing unnamed US government officials, that there are no indications that Israel intends to attack nuclear facilities or carry out assassinations. No final decision has yet been made on when and how Israel will react.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Arakhchi signaled that his country would not respond to any Israeli attack. “There are no red lines” in protecting Iranian people and interests, he said. (APA/Reuters)
