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Israel asks UN to draw conclusions
The UN Secretariat has accused Israel of violating international law by announcing an attack on a temporary military base in Lebanon (UNIFIL). According to the World Organization (WTO), on October 13, Israeli tanks invaded the peacekeeping base in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military called the incident an accident. And the Prime Minister of the Jewish state, Benjamin Netanyahu, explained the incident by the fact that Lebanese Hezbollah was hiding behind Unifil and using the peacekeepers as a "human shield." He called for the immediate withdrawal of UN peacekeepers from Lebanon, but the world organization ignored these demands.
Relations between the United Nations and Israel have become increasingly tense. On October 14, the UN Secretary-General condemned an Israeli military attack on a peacekeeping base in southern Lebanon. The UN Interim Force said Israeli tanks entered the base on Sunday and destroyed the entrance. In a separate incident, 15 UN peacekeepers were slightly injured by a smoke bomb fired from Israel.
On the evening of October 13, the Israeli military said a Merkava tank accidentally crashed into a peacekeeper position while backing up under fire in smoky conditions while trying to evacuate wounded soldiers. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel regretted the incident and was doing everything possible to prevent similar incidents.
"But the simple and sure way to ensure this is to simply withdraw them (UN forces, Kommersant) from the risk zone," he stressed, calling on Secretary General Guterres to withdraw peacekeeping forces from southern Lebanon. According to him, Lebanese Hezbollah is using UNIFIL as a "human shield."
Antonio Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric rejected the Israeli prime minister's request, stressing that UNIFIL peacekeepers "remain in their positions and the UN flag continues to fly in southern Lebanon." "The Secretary-General has reiterated that UNIFIL peacekeepers and their installations must not be attacked. Attacks on peacekeepers violate international law. This could be considered a war crime," the UN spokesman warned.
Let us recall that the UN Interim Force has been deployed in southern Lebanon since 2006 in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1701. This document ended the Second Lebanon-Israel War and decided that the border between Lebanon and Israel would be guarded by UN peacekeepers and Lebanese government forces. The resolution required Hezbollah to withdraw its troops 10 kilometers from the border, across the Litani River.
Meanwhile, radical groups have ignored these demands and have placed military depots and rocket launchers near the border and UN peacekeeping bases. On October 13, the IDF held a special press tour for foreign journalists to show the group's tunnels and weapons caches, located just 200 meters from the UNIFIL base.
However, Israel’s actions have once again drawn sharp criticism from world leaders. In response, EU Foreign and Security Chief Josep Borrell said Israel’s actions were completely unacceptable, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called on EU member states to consider suspending the free trade agreement (FTA) with Israel. Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg called on Israel and Lebanon to “respect the orders” of the UN forces and ensure their safety and security.
In any case, Benjamin Netanyahu could hardly have predicted the effect his remarks would have. The peacekeepers are on Lebanese territory in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions, and their withdrawal can only occur through that same body, and not through an appeal to the Secretary-General.
At the same time, Israel will not stop its military operations. First, Hezbollah has already been eliminated from all border settlements, and now the IDF is carrying out strikes, including in northern Lebanon. This strike took place on October 14 and resulted in the deaths of at least 18 people (according to Lebanese authorities). Second, the Israeli military continues to eliminate Hezbollah leaders. On October 13, the IDF apparently killed the commander of one of its units, Muhammad Kamel Naim (the group has not yet confirmed his death).
At the same time, the IDF has not declared a strike in the Lebanese capital for almost five days. CNN, citing American sources, said that the relative calm was the result of a secret agreement between Israel and the United States. Last week, US President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time in almost two months, asking Israel to refrain from attacking Beirut, the channel reports.
In return, the US promised to transfer the latest THAAD missile defense system to Israel, worth $2.3 billion, the channel's sources said. The Pentagon has already confirmed that it will indeed transfer the missile defense system to the IDF and station about 100 troops in Israel to operate the system.
THAAD is intended to bolster the Jewish state's missile defenses in light of the growing threat from Iran. It will help Israel better defend itself against the threat of Hezbollah, which often launches hundreds of missiles and drones at once, overwhelming Israel's air defenses.
But on Monday night, Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would continue its “merciless attacks” on the Shiite Hezbollah movement across Lebanon, including Beirut, while visiting a military base in Lebanon that was attacked.