UN peacekeepers in Lebanon stay put despite rising border tensions
UN forces in southern Lebanon remain in position‚ ignoring Israeli warnings to move Its facing threats from both sides while trying to monitor the conflict and help civilians The situation has led to large-scale displacement in the region
UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon are standing their ground‚ despite Israeli militarys calls to relocate. Andrea Tenenti from UNIFIL (the UN force in Lebanon) stated that the 50 countries contributing troops and the Security Council made a joint decision to keep their positions. Their aim is to watch the conflict and help get aid to people who need it
The situation is getting worse. Tenenti said‚ “The Israeli military keeps hitting our spots‚ putting our soldiers at risk; Also Hezbollah fires rockets near us which is dangerous for our peacekeepers“ He spoke from Beirut to a UN meeting in Geneva using video
Lately‚ things have gotten more dangerous. An Israeli tank shot at UNIFILs main office in Naqoura about two weeks ago‚ knocking down a watch tower and hurting two Indonesian soldiers. Just yesterday‚ a German navy ship (part of UNIFIL) shot down a mystery drone off Lebanons coast
Because its so unsafe UNIFIL (which has around 10‚000 people) had to stop most — but not all — of its patrols near the Blue Line‚ the border between Lebanon and Israel. Tenenti explained‚ “We see hundreds of things flying over the Blue Line every day: our peacekeepers have to hide in shelters for hours to stay safe“
UNIFIL is staying put “even though Israeli forces want us to move from spots close to the Blue Line‚“ Tenenti said. He mentioned that peacekeepers have 29 positions very close — up to 3 miles — from the Blue Line
The UN group that helps people move says almost 800‚000 people in Lebanon had to leave their homes. Three out of five of these people moved from where UNIFIL works
Israel says UNIFIL isnt doing a good job stopping Hezbollah from doing military stuff. They also say Hezbollah has military things very close to where peacekeepers are based. Tenenti pointed out that the Security Council rules dont let UNIFIL search private homes or take weapons from Hezbollah. But UNIFIL keeps telling the Security Council about “things that look suspicious‚“ like when Israeli forces said they found secret tunnels in the area
