BEIRUT: The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said on Sunday that Israeli soldiers had shot at its peacekeepers from a tank near an army position in the country’s south. UNIFIL has been working with the Lebanese army to consolidate a truce between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah reached last November. “This morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fired on UNIFIL peacekeepers from a Merkava tank from near a position Israel has established in Lebanese territory,” the peacekeepers said in a statement, adding heavy machine gun rounds hit about five metres from their personnel.
The force said the peacekeepers were able to “leave safely thirty minutes later” after the tank withdrew inside the Israeli position. UNIFIL said the shooting “represents a serious violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701”, which ended a 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, and also formed the basis of last November’s truce. That ceasefire sought to end more than a year of hostilities between the parties that broke out after the start of the Gaza war.
Under the deal, Israel was to withdraw its forces from south Lebanon, but it has kept them at five areas it deems strategic. It has also kept up regular strikes on Lebanon, mainly saying it is targeting Hezbollah sites and operatives. Sunday’s incident was not the first in which UNIFIL accused Israel of endangering its peacekeepers. “Yet again, we call on the IDF to cease any aggressive behaviour and attacks on or near peacekeepers,” the force said.
Lebanon will file a complaint to the United Nations Security Council alleging that Israel is building walls in south Lebanon, an accusation Israel has denied, the Lebanese presidency said on Saturday.The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said that the Israeli army had built walls in south Lebanon near the UN-demarcated Blue Line, the de facto border. When asked about the accusation, the Israeli military said “the wall does not cross the Blue Line”.
President Joseph Aoun’s office said he had instructed officials “to file an urgent complaint to the United Nations Security Council against Israel for constructing a concrete wall on Lebanon’s southern border exceeding the Blue Line”. He requested that the complaint “be accompanied by reports issued by the United Nations refuting the Israeli denial of the wall’s construction”.
According to UNIFIL, last month peacekeepers surveyed a concrete T-wall erected by the Israeli army southwest of Yaroun and found that it “crossed the Blue Line, rendering more than 4,000 square metres of Lebanese territory inaccessible to the Lebanese people”. A survey this month of additional construction showed “a section of wall southeast of Yaroun also crossed the Blue Line”, the UNIFIL statement added, calling it a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty.
The force said it had informed the Israeli army of the October findings and requested it move the wall. A ceasefire in November last year sought to end more than a year of hostilities including two months of all-out war between Israel and Lebanese group Hezbollah. The Israeli military said the wall was part of a broader Israeli military plan “whose construction began in 2022”. “Since the start of the war, and as part of lessons learnt from it, the (Israeli military) has been advancing a series of measures, including reinforcing the physical barrier along the northern border,” it added. Under the truce, Israel was to withdraw its forces from south Lebanon, but it has kept them at five areas it deems strategic. It has also kept up regular strikes on Lebanon, mainly saying it is targeting Hezbollah sites and operatives. — AFP
