Israeli attacks against UNIFIL peacekeepers are not a new thing, says a former peacekeeper who worked in Lebanon in 2012-2013.
– Unfortunately, there are also examples from previous decades that Israel has directly and indirectly interfered with the actions of peacekeepers, doctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki Olli Nurmi says.
For example, in 2006, four UN military observers were killed in southern Lebanon after Israel destroyed the Khiam observation post. One of them was a Finnish captain-lieutenant Jarno Mäkinen.
Within a week, five UNIFIL peacekeepers have been injured as a result of clashes between Israel and the Lebanese-based extremist organization Hezbollah. In all cases, it is not known from which side the shooting came.
According to the UN’s Unifil, Israel has in some cases targeted peacekeepers and intentionally disrupted their operations.
According to Nurmi, the movements of the peacekeepers are known to Israel.
– Unifil’s bases and station locations are publicly known. In addition, Unifil has a coordination system with the Israeli and Lebanese armies for the movements of peacekeepers.
The injuries occurred in attacks on Unifil’s headquarters in Naqoura. For example last thursday Israel fired a Merkava tank directly at the observation tower at the headquarters, which housed two peacekeepers.
On Sunday, Israeli forces broke through the gates of the base in Ramyah with two tanks. According to the Israeli military this was done because injured Israeli soldiers had to be evacuated from the path of Hezbollah fire.
Why does Israel attack peacekeepers?
Israel has claimed that Unifil provides a shield for the extremist organization Hezbollah.
Israel launched a ground offensive in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah at the end of September. Before this, Hezbollah and Israel have fired at each other since the beginning of the Gaza war. More than 60,000 residents of northern Israel have been evacuated due to Hezbollah attacks.
Israel’s stated goal is to push Hezbollah north of the Litani River so that the organization’s attacks on northern Israel would stop.
The goal complies with the UN Security Council’s resolution from 2006, when Israel and Hezbollah were at war in southern Lebanon. The resolution ordered Hezbollah and Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon. The area south of the Litani River was to be transferred to the control of the Lebanese army, supported by UNIFIL peacekeepers. However, Hezbollah has not withdrawn from the region.
According to the Israeli military, Hezbollah has built military infrastructure, such as tunnels, near Unifil bases and civilian targets.
The military has released several videos of tunnels and weapons caches it says belong to Hezbollah. For example, the video below shows an alleged Hezbollah weapons cache near the Unifil base.
has not been able to independently confirm the authenticity or origin of the equipment seen in the video.
On Sunday, Israel’s military showed reporters tunnel entrances, combat positions and seized weapons it said belonged to Hezbollah. At least they participated in the tour The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. The Israeli military says it found hundreds of entrances to Hezbollah’s tunnel network during the ground offensive.
The Washington Post notes that it has not been able to confirm that the tunnel entrances, military equipment or combat positions belonged to Hezbollah. In addition, most of the weapons that the Israeli military said it had seized had already been moved elsewhere. Journalists were not allowed to leave the soldiers’ company.
Former peacekeeper Olli Nurmi says that Hezbollah’s military presence in the vicinity of Unifil stations has been known for a long time. Unifil has also raised the matter in its own reports.
– It is not unusual for Hezbollah and other groups to operate near peacekeeper bases. With this, they aim to ensure that Israel does not respond to their attacks with too much force, says Nurmi.
Unifil does not have advanced equipment to detect underground activity, the spokesperson said Andrea Tenenti says according to The Wall Street Journal. According to Tenent, Unifil reports all tunnels and weapons it detects to the UN Security Council.
“Unifil operation failed”
Nurmi calls Israel’s attacks on Unifil an irresponsible and short-sighted action.
– In the long term, it is in Israel’s own interest that there are peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, says Nurmi.
Nurmi also says Unifil’s operation failed. Unifil’s mandate is to act mainly as support for the Lebanese army, which is weak in the region. For example, the disarmament of Hezbollah would have been the responsibility of the Lebanese army, and the army has not been able to do this.
– Unifil’s role should either be strengthened or reduced. Either a proper buffer zone would be established on the border between Israel and Lebanon, where Unifil could practice disarmament. Or Unifil’s activities would be limited to a minimum, Nurmi suggests.