EffieTensions between Israel and the United Nations over peacekeeping operations in southern Lebanon have escalated in recent days – even though the confrontations are rooted in years of mistrust and mutual recriminations.
Amid the latest standoff, the head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission on Monday rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for UNIFIL troops to withdraw from “combat areas.”
The UN force was established in 1978 after Israel invaded southern Lebanon and stepped up its role in 2006 to monitor and maintain peace there after that year’s war between Israel and Hezbollah.
I filmed patrols with U.N. peacekeepers on the 120-kilometer (75-mile) Blue Line, the U.N.-recognized border separating Israel and Lebanon, and witnessed first-hand the demining of 5 million square meters of land in southern Lebanon Doing dangerous work, UNIFIL has destroyed more than 51,000 landmines and unexploded bombs left over from previous wars.
But Israel accuses UNIFIL of grossly failing in one of its other key responsibilities. Under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war, the United Nations intends to create a zone in southern Lebanon free of armed forces other than the Lebanese army.
Israeli Cabinet Secretary Eli Cohen said in a recent social media post: “The United Nations is a failed organization and UNIFIL is a useless force that failed to implement Resolution 1701 and failed to stop Hezbollah in Lebanon. The South established its own power.
Israel accuses UNIFIL of turning a blind eye to Hezbollah’s massive reorganization and rearmament as the Iran-backed Shia group has grown into a powerful fighting force, even more powerful than the official Lebanese army. Hezbollah is now listed as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United Kingdom, the United States and other countries.
According to pro-Israel pressure group UN Watch, UNIFIL “has taken no action” because “Hezbollah is digging tunnels into Israel, kidnapping and attacking Israeli civilians… and planting missiles in civilian homes.”
UN Watch and the Israeli government media office have published multiple posts in recent days claiming that Hezbollah is able to operate freely within clear sight of UN bases and posts along or near the Blue Line.
After Israeli forces crossed the border into Lebanon, they discovered tunnels, heavy weapons and equipment prepared to attack Israel.
Militant Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video address this week directly to the United Nations secretary-general that this was why Israel was demanding UNIFIL withdraw from the conflict zone in southern Lebanon.
Israel’s prime minister urged António Guterres not to allow Hezbollah to use UN peacekeepers as “human shields”, saying the secretary-general’s refusal to evacuate UNIFIL soldiers made them “hostages of Hezbollah… endangering them and the lives of our people” [Israeli] Soldier”.
Israel has been widely criticized for an October 1 ground incursion that injured five UNIFIL peacekeepers.
In one of several incidents, Israeli artillery hit clearly marked and unmistakable UNIFIL bases Israeli tanks force their way into UNIFIL compound They initially refused requests to leave.
Israel explained the incidents but again said the way to avoid a repeat of the past was for UNIFIL to withdraw from the area.
This was met with a firm “no”.
A spokesman for UNIFIL accused Israeli forces of “deliberately” firing on its positions, and the 40 countries that have contributed troops to UNIFIL said last week they “strongly condemn recent attacks on peacekeepers.”
Pascale Baeriswyl, Switzerland’s ambassador to the United Nations, said the UN Security Council meeting in New York also “urged all parties to respect the security of UNIFIL personnel and UN premises”.
“They reaffirmed their support for UNIFIL and highlighted its role in supporting regional stability,” she added.
ReutersU.N. agencies have also sought to hold Israel accountable in Gaza, where Israeli forces stepped up their offensive last week to drive remaining Hamas militants out of northern areas, including the Jabaliya refugee camp.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they had issued clear orders for thousands of civilians to leave the conflict zone for so-called “safe zones”.
But with as many as 400,000 people trapped in the north, few places in Gaza can be considered “safe” and according to many reports, Israel’s latest offensive has killed more than 300 people.
That led to a strongly worded statement from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, which said the Israel Defense Forces “trapped tens of thousands of Palestinians, including civilians, in homes and shelters without access to food or other life-sustaining necessities.”
The statement also accused Israel of completely isolating the area from the rest of Gaza and said Israeli forces had fired on civilians trying to flee the area, which could constitute a “war crime.”
Israel says it is sending more food and medical supplies to northern Gaza, and Hamas is actively encouraging and even preventing civilians from leaving Jabaliya.
The bottom line for many in Israel’s current government is that – for many years – the United Nations and its organizations are inherently and structurally anti-Israel.
Israel has long accused UNRWA – the U.N. agency established more than 70 years ago to support Palestinian refugees in the Middle East, including Gaza and the West Bank – of actively acting against Israel’s interests.
Israel has long accused UNRWA – the U.N. agency established more than 70 years ago to support Palestinian refugees in the Middle East, including Gaza and the West Bank – of actively acting against its interests.
UNRWA personnel are said to have been directly involved in the October 7 attack by Hamas, when thousands of gunmen breached the Gaza border fence, killing approximately 1,200 people in southern Israel and taking another 251 back to Gaza as hostage.
ReutersTwelve of UNRWA’s 13,000 staff were accused of involvement in the attack.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, told the Security Council that UNRWA allowed Hamas to infiltrate its ranks “so deeply ingrained and so institutionalized that the organization simply cannot repair it”.
To this end, a Knesset committee has now approved legislation that would ban UNRWA from operating in Israel and end all ties between the Israeli government and the agency.
The head of UNRWA responded by saying the agency’s humanitarian operations in Gaza and the West Bank could “unravel” if the legislation were passed.
Philippe Lazzarini said senior Israeli officials were “sent on destroying UNRWA,” the main provider of humanitarian aid in Gaza. It provides schools, primary health care centers and social services to the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.2 million people.
But criticism from the United Nations and its member states will not prevent Israel from pursuing its military objectives in Gaza and Lebanon and the occupied West Bank, as it enjoys U.S. support.
Notably, Israel even banned the United Nations Secretary-General from entering the country. Foreign Minister Israel Katz says Antonio Guterres is now persona non grata after failing to “clearly” condemn Iran’s missile attacks on Israel. The move prompted Mr Guterres to insist he “strongly condemned[ed]” attack, although the “ban” has not yet been lifted.
While Israel may owe its existence to the United Nations (the body it was voted into existence in 1947), its relationship with the organization has never been worse.
