The UN does not want to comply with Israel’s request to move parts of its UNIFIL peacekeeping force to Lebanon. The soldiers of the UN observation mission would “maintain their positions”, a UNIFIL statement said on Saturday.
About 170 members of the Austrian Armed Forces are currently serving as peacekeepers in Lebanon. They are stationed in Naqoura camp, about 110 kilometers south of the capital Beirut, near the Israeli border.
On September 30, Israel called on UN peacekeepers to “withdraw peacekeepers from some of their positions” as the Israeli military planned “limited ground operations in Lebanon.” However, peacekeepers remained “in all their positions and the UN flag continues to fly,” the statement said.
Peacekeepers have been stationed there since 1978
The UNIFIL peacekeeping force has been stationed in Lebanon since 1978 and consists of more than 10,000 soldiers and civilians. Through UN Resolution 1701 from 2006, the tasks of the Blue Helmet Force were significantly expanded. The peacekeeping force was tasked with monitoring a ceasefire in the border area reached after a war between Israel and Hezbollah, and supporting the Lebanese army in border protection.
In recent weeks, the conflict between Israel and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia in Lebanon has worsened significantly. Following massive air strikes on targets of the Hezbollah militia, which is affiliated with the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas, the Israeli army announced the start of a “limited ground operation” in southern Lebanon on Tuesday evening.
Iran carried out a large-scale missile attack on Israel on Tuesday evening, citing, among other things, the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike in a southern suburb of Beirut last week. According to Israeli information, the majority of the approximately 200 rockets fired from Iran were intercepted.
Guterres “undesirable person” for Jerusalem
Relations between Israel and the UN are tense. On Wednesday, the Israeli government declared UN Secretary-General António Guterres ‘persona non grata’ because it said he had failed to adequately condemn the previous Iranian missile attack on Israel.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Guterres was an “anti-Israel secretary general who supports terrorists, rapists and murderers.”
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
