Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen on Monday accused the United Nations’ Unifil peacekeepers in south Lebanon of being a useless force that failed to protect Israeli citizens from Hezbollah attacks and called on it to withdraw as fighting ramps up.
The peacekeepers, which include Irish soldiers, have seen injuries on three separate occasions in the last week, with at least four being hospitalised amid growing international condemnation against Israel for repeatedly hitting Unifil’s headquarters in Naqoura and nearby positions.
No Irish soldiers have been injured.
Mr Cohen said: “The State of Israel will do everything to ensure the safety of its citizens, and if the UN cannot help, at least it should not interfere, and move its personnel from the combat zones.”
Accusations have been flying between Israel and the UN over its peacekeepers in south Lebanon, as Israel pushes its force through the area, determined to wipe out Iran-backed Hezbollah and its military infrastructure.
The UN said Israeli tanks had burst into its base on Sunday, the latest allegations of Israeli violations against peacekeeping forces, as Hezbollah unleashed a deadly “swarm of drones” on an Israeli military camp.
Israel disputed the UN account and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the peacekeepers to withdraw, saying they were providing “human shields” for Hezbollah during an upsurge in hostilities.
The Unifil peacekeeping force said two Israeli Merkava tanks destroyed the main gate of a base and forcibly entered before dawn on Sunday. After the tanks left, shells exploded 100m away, releasing smoke which blew across the base and sickened UN personnel, it said in a statement.
The Israeli military said Hezbollah militants had fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli troops, wounding 25 of them. The attack was very close to a Unifil post and a tank helping evacuate the casualties under fire then backed into the Unifil post, it said.
Netanyahu said in a statement addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres: “The time has come for you to withdraw Unifil from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones.”
Hezbollah denies it uses the proximity of peacekeepers for protection.
Unifil has said previous Israeli attacks on a watchtower, cameras, communications equipment and lighting had limited its monitoring abilities. UN sources say they fear any violations of international law in the conflict will be impossible to monitor.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin in a call on Sunday with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, “reinforced the importance of Israel taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety and security of Unifil forces and Lebanese Armed Forces,” according to a readout of the call.
