Israel-Lebanon War: Does UN Resolution 1701 have any meaning now?

New Delhi : United Nations Security Council (UN) Resolution 1701 is proving meaningless in the ongoing war between Israel and Lebanon. UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) says that Israeli soldiers are continuously targeting their post. On the other hand, Israeli Defense Forces say that Hezbollah’s bases are near UNIFIL posts from where Hezbollah is firing rockets and missiles at Israel.

Israel said to step back

When Israel started the ground attack on Lebanon, it asked UNIFIL to retreat from there, but UNIFIL refused and remained there. The area between Israel and Lebanon is known as the Blue Line. Its total length is 120 kilometers. This is a buffer zone where the UN force is deployed, which is a peacekeeping force. More than 10 thousand soldiers of the armies of 50 countries of the world including India are deployed under UNIFIL. India also has about 900 soldiers in it.

Two peacekeepers injured in Israeli Defense Forces shelling, UNIFIL raises questions

Israel is violating international laws

UNIFIL has been saying continuously for the last several days that Israeli Defense Forces are also attacking their posts in which peacekeeping force soldiers were also injured. UNIFIL said that on Sunday, peacekeepers deployed to the UN post in Ramiyah observed three platoons of Israeli Defense Forces cross the Blue Line and cross into Lebanon. At 4:30 in the morning, two Israeli Merkava tanks destroyed the main gate of the UN post and forcibly entered it and asked to turn off the lights of the post.

Upon protesting, the Israeli tanks left the place. UNIFIL said that earlier Israeli troops also stopped UNIFIL’s logistics movement near Meis ez Jebel. UNIFIL said that entering a UN post is a clear violation of international law and Security Council Resolution 1701. Deliberate attacks on peacekeepers are a serious violation of international humanitarian law and Resolution 1701.

Hezbollah hideouts near UN post

On the other hand, Israeli Defense Forces say that we are not targeting the UN post but the positions of Hezbollah. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have said that Hezbollah positions near UNIFIL posts in southern Lebanon have fired about 25 rockets and missiles at Israeli communities and Israeli soldiers from there in the past month. Two Israeli soldiers were also killed in these attacks.

Israeli Defense Forces said that Hezbollah was attacking from its underground bases. The IDF said that based on intelligence, our soldiers discovered Hezbollah bases where hundreds of weapons were being planned to attack Israeli territory. These positions were near the Blue Line, very close to UNIFIL posts.

Failure to implement Resolution 1701?

The IDF also said that Lebanon and the international community have shown a failure to implement Resolution 1701, despite repeated requests to implement it. The IDF said that for several years Hezbollah has remained in southern Lebanon in serious violation of UN Security Council resolutions. They have also amassed large-scale weapons to target Israeli civilians and deliberately based their attack structures near UNIFIL positions. The IDF said that we are carrying out attacks on Hezbollah and are in constant contact with UNIFIL to prevent harm to peacekeepers.

What is proposal 1701

In 2006, UN Resolution 1701 came to end the Israel-Lebanon war. It proposed a complete end to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon and deployment of UNIFIL troops in Lebanon in their place. This included disarming Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. It said there would be no other armed forces south of the Litani River except UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army. It was also said that government control of Lebanon should be fully implemented. This meant that the control of Hezbollah should end.