Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated this Sunday that the UN mission in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) acts as “human shields” for the Shiite group Hezbollah. This followed the incident in which five peacekeepers were injured by Israeli gunfire in the past three days.
Refusal to evacuate UNIFIL soldiers makes them hostages of Hezbollah. This endangers their lives and those of our soldiers,” the video leader highlighted.
In his communication, addressed specifically to UN Secretary General António Guterres (who has no authority over UNIFIL, since the mission is under the Security Council), Netanyahu stated that Israel has requested on multiple occasions the removal of the helmets. blues.
“We have received repeated refusals, all aimed at providing human shields to Hezbollah terrorists,” the president said.
Several UNIFIL blue helmet soldiers have been injured
Blue helmets are present in Lebanon under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
In recent days, UNIFIL has reported that five of its soldiers have suffered injuries in incidents attributed to Israel, whose army invaded southern Lebanon almost two weeks ago to combat the Lebanese group.
Netanyahu affirmed that Israel is doing “everything possible” to avoid causing harm to the peacekeepers, but stressed that the best way to prevent these incidents is to withdraw them from the territory, which would require a decision by the Security Council.
For three weeks now, Israel has been carrying out an intense bombing campaign in southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as in Beirut, resulting in the deaths of more than a thousand people.
On the other hand, this Saturday, the Secretary of Defense of the United States, Lloyd Austin, urged his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, to guarantee the security of the blue helmets and the Lebanese Armed Forces, after the attacks on positions of the forces. of peace in the south of the country and the death of two Lebanese soldiers.
Gallant stressed that the Israeli Army will continue to implement actions to “prevent harm” to UNIFIL troops, but warned that “Hezbollah operates and fires near UNIFIL positions, using peacekeeping missions as cover for its activities.” ».
(With information from EFE)
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