According to a report by The New York Times, citing representatives from UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) and Israel, the Israeli military is endangering UN peacekeepers by positioning its forces adjacent to their sites during ground operations in southern Lebanon.
UNIFIL spokesperson Nick Bernback told the newspaper, “This is a very serious development, and it is unacceptable to compromise the safety of UN peacekeepers while they are carrying out their Security Council-mandated duties.”
The UN mission revealed that Israel had requested the peacekeepers to redeploy when the operation commenced, a request that was denied.
Discussions on this issue are now ongoing at the UN headquarters and with the Israeli military.
An unnamed Israeli official claimed that their forces were stationed next to the UN mission due to the suitability of these locations in terms of infrastructure.
The official also alleged that Hezbollah militants were launching rockets from areas close to the peacekeeping base, further complicating the situation.
Previously, UNIFIL had expressed concerns about recent activities of the Israeli military near their Mission 6-52, located southeast of Maroun al-Ras in Lebanon.
The Israeli military reported on Saturday evening that it had sealed a significant section of Hezbollah’s underground infrastructure in southern Lebanon.
The operation, carried out by the Paratroopers Brigade, Yahalom Unit, and Northern Command Combat Engineering Unit, involved the destruction of 250 meters of tunnels and facilities used by Hezbollah’s Radwan Forces.
