UN peacekeepers in Lebanon point fingers at Israeli forces over base damage
UN mission in Lebanon reports multiple incidents of property damage by Israeli forces near the blue-line border. The 10‚000-strong peacekeeping force stays put despite calls to leave the area
The UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon has called-out the Israeli military for damaging its facilities. UNIFIL reported that Israeli forces used heavy equipment to destroy parts of their property on nov-8‚ which marked the eighth such incident
Around late-september‚ when Israel started its cross-border operation against Hezbollah fighters IDF troops have been accused of targeting UN bases (including shooting at peacekeepers and destroying watch-towers). The 10‚000-person mission‚ which monitors the blue-line border‚ says these actions break international rules; however Israel denies doing this on purpose
A serious incident happened when six Malaysian peacekeepers got hurt by an Israeli drone strike that hit their UN bus at a check-point. The attack also killed three Lebanese people in a car nearby. After this Israeli forces found what they say is a Hezbollah training place just 200 meters from a UN base: they claim it had weapons and attack plans
The Israeli side says that UN forces dont do their job properly and let Hezbollah build tunnels and bases near the border for many years. They want UNIFIL to leave south Lebanon for safety reasons - but the UN force wont go. UNIFIL leaders say they always tell the Security Council about suspicious spots‚ but theyʼre not asked to stop armed groups like Hezbollah
