Saturday, November 9th, 2024

Macron says France will not tolerate ‘deliberate’ targeting of UN peacekeepers by Israel


French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday condemned the “deliberate” targeting of UN peacekeepers by Israel, and said France would not tolerate such actions after two peacekeepers were injured in Lebanon. 24 as reported.

Earlier, France summoned the Israeli ambassador to discuss the attacks on three UN bases in southern Lebanon, which the French Foreign Ministry described as a “serious violation of international law”. “The Israeli authorities must explain themselves,” the ministry said, France 24 reported.

Israeli forces reportedly fired on a watchtower at UNIFIL headquarters in southern Lebanon, wounding two Indonesian peacekeepers. UNIFIL was created by the Security Council following Israel’s “invasion” of Lebanon in March 1978.

The UN peacekeeping mission UNIFIL has been working along the “Blue Line” that separates Lebanon and Israel since the 1970s, and its mandate was renewed for another year by the UN Security Council in August.

Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000. In the absence of an agreed border, the United Nations identified a 120 km withdrawal line, known as the Blue Line, which UNIFIL monitors and patrols.

UNIFIL – the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon – said on Thursday that two peacekeepers were wounded when an Israeli tank fired on a watchtower at the force’s headquarters in the border region town of Nakoura, killing them, Al Jazeera reported. Fell down.

UNIFIL condemned the attack as a “grave violation of international humanitarian law”.

The peacekeeping organization, which comprises about 10,000 peacekeepers from 50 countries and was founded in 1978, said Israeli forces had “deliberately” fired on its positions along the border.

UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix warned that concerns are growing over the security of UN peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon amid Israeli ground incursions.

Briefing the UN Security Council on Thursday, Lacroix described the hostilities between Israeli forces in southern Lebanon and the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah as “increasingly worrying” and “putting peacekeepers at grave risk”, CNN reports. .

“The safety and security of peacekeepers is now increasingly at risk.”

Amid escalating conflict in the Middle East, Israel continues to expand its attacks across Lebanon.

At least 22 people were killed and about 117 injured in Israeli strikes on Thursday in a densely populated Beirut area, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.

India on Friday expressed concern over the deteriorating security situation along the Blue Line, which separates Lebanon and Israel since the 1970s, and said the violence at the UN complex must be respected by all.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement that appropriate measures should be taken to ensure the safety of UN peacekeepers and the sanctity of their mandate.

“We are concerned about the deteriorating security situation on the Blue Line. We continue to monitor the situation closely,” the Foreign Ministry said, commenting on recent developments in southern Lebanon.

“The inviolability of UN premises must be respected by all and appropriate steps must be taken to ensure the safety of UN peacekeepers and the sanctity of their mandate,” the statement said.



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