Yossi Schwartz ISL (RCIT section in Israel/Occupied Palestine), 17.10.2024
What is UNIFIL?
It is the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon. The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon has been patrolling the Israel-Lebanon border for more than 45 years. The mission of the U.N. Security Council is to ensure stability and security in southern Lebanon since Israel’s first invasion of, and withdrawal from, south Lebanon in 1978. The area includes some of the traditional strongholds of Hezbollah.
UNIFIL has more than 10,000 peacekeepers from 50 countries. The largest contributors of troops are Indonesia (1,231), Italy (1,068), India (903), Nepal, Ghana, and Malaysia, each with more than 800. Spain, France, China, and Ireland also have a significant presence. About a dozen countries contribute with only one peacekeeper each, including Peru, Britain, and Nigeria.
UNIFIL operates in a 410-square-mile area defined by the Litani River in the north and the Blue Line — a temporarily negotiated border between Israel and Lebanon stretching 120 kilometers (about 75 miles) — in the south. Between those lines, UNIFIL has 50 positions and a headquarters in the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura.
According to UNIFIL, seventeen percent of UNIFIL’s activities are jointly carried out with the Lebanese armed forces. The peacekeeping force and Lebanese army routinely coordinate activities, including foot and vehicle patrols, by day and by night. UNIFIL’s long-term objective is to “gradually transfer responsibilities to the Lebanese Armed Forces,” according to UNIFIL’s website.
In March 1978, the U.N. Security Council established the interim force to monitor Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanese territory after its week-long invasion of southern Lebanon. It was tasked with confirming the withdrawal of Israeli forces, restoring peace and security, and assisting Lebanon’s government in ensuring the return of its effective authority in the area.
After the month-long Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006, UNIFIL’s mandate expanded with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701. The United Nations directed it to take all necessary action in areas of deployment of its forces and, as it deems it to be within its capabilities, to ensure that its area of operations is not utilized for hostile activities of any kind.
The Zionist state and UNIFIL
As tensions across the Israel-Lebanon border increased and the Zionists were trying to occupy south Lebanon, the Zionist forces fired at several U.N. positions in the south of Lebanon, injuring at least four U.N. peacekeepers.
Before the beginning of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah last October, UNIFIL was monitoring a cease-fire between Lebanon and Israel that had mainly been held since 2006. It monitored border violations. It also had a formal mediation mechanism, which brought Israeli and Lebanese military officials into a room with UNIFIL.
As Israeli troops invaded southern Lebanon this month, the Zionist army ordered the United Nations to evacuate its bases near the border. But Andrea Tenenti, UNIFIL spokesman in Beirut, said, “We decided we need to continue to fly the U.N. flag,” . “This is our mandate, and although it has been heavily challenged, it is important to signal that we are staying.”[i]
In September, a UNIFIL contract worker was killed in a strike on his car in Naqoura. A barber who worked with UNIFIL’s Spanish contingent was also injured by Israeli sniper fire.
This month, Zionist forces fired at three U.N. positions in the south of Lebanon within one day, injuring two peacekeepers when a tank fired at their position, the United Nations said on Oct. 10. The following day, the Israel Defense Forces and the United Nations said two other peacekeepers were injured in another set of explosions. A few days ago UNIFIL said two Israeli tanks “forcibly entered” a U.N. position in southern Lebanon, destroying a main gate.
The UN mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said its peacekeepers at a position near southern Lebanon’s Kfar Kela observed an Israeli Merkava tank firing at their watchtower on Wednesday morning.
UNIFIL said that two cameras were destroyed and the tower was damaged.
“KAN interviewed UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti on Wednesday from Beirut. He explained why the organization is not evacuating from southern Lebanon, saying that it is there “not at the request of the Israeli authorities, but by the request of the Security Council and the international community.
For the fourth time in as many days, we remind the IDF and all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN premises,” UNIFIL added[ii].
Zionist Prime Minister Benito Netanyahu on Sunday appealed to the U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres in a video statement to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds.
Why did the Zionist army attack the UN forces?
The target is to explain the reason. On Wednesday morning, the Zionist army attacked the watchtower; two cameras were destroyed, and the tower was damaged.
In simple words, the Zionist army did not want UNIFIL to watch the war crimes committed by the Zionist monster. This tactic is common for the Zionist army. It did the same to the USS Liberty ship in 1967 to hide the butchering of Egyptian prisoners of war.
UNIFIL cannot guard Lebanon from the aggression of the Zionist state. This is the role of the Arab revolution that will remove the rotten local ruling classes and destroy Israel.
Destroy the Zionist monster!
The only solution is the Arab revolution!
Endnotes:
[i] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/10/12/unifil-un-peacekeeping-what-is-force-lebanon-united-nations/
[ii] https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-824953