Unifil warns any attack on peacekeepers violates international law after two fall from observation tower under fire

Two UN peacekeepers in Lebanon have been wounded by Israeli fire, the mission said on Thursday, as Israel’s military ground operations in the country continued.

In a statement, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said two of its members were wounded after a Merkava tank fired towards an observation tower at Unifil headquarters in Naqoura, “directly hitting it and causing them to fall”.

“[Israeli] soldiers also fired on UN position (UNP) 1-31 in Labbouneh, hitting the entrance to the bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering, and damaging vehicles and a communications system,” said the peacekeeping mission.

“An IDF drone was observed flying inside the UN position up to the bunker entrance.”

Israeli attacks in Lebanon over the past month, including a bombing campaign and ground invasion, have killed over 1,200 people and displaced one million.

  • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.caEnglish
    4·
    2 days ago

    Why are they even there?

    From a real news source: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-peacekeepers-lebanon-say-we-are-staying-despite-israeli-attacks-2024-10-10/

    UNIFIL is mandated by the Security Council to help the Lebanese army keep the country’s south free of weapons and armed personnel other than those of the state. That has sparked friction with Hezbollah, which effectively controls the area.

    1. They’re supposed to be Peacekeepers not Peace Makers. There’s a war happening and usually Peacekeepers leave the area when it becomes an active war.

    2. Their mission was to find Hezbollah weapons… well it seems they weren’t all that effective at doing that mission. Anyway, the IDF will remove those weapons for them. So they no longer have a mission to be there to do.

    This is extremely incompetent on the part of the UN. It’s a struggle for the UN to get countries to volunteer soldiers to be UN Peacekeepers. The UN using Peacekeepers as human shields isn’t going to help in that. Peacekeepers serve an important function, and the UN putting them in unnecessary danger because it’s upset at Israel is completely irresponsible.

    • shaserlark@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      3·
      20 hours ago

      You’re being downvoted on every post you do about this topic, you’ve been here for a year and you know that pretty much nobody agrees with you. I’m really wondering what’s your agenda.

      • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.caEnglish
        1·
        18 hours ago

        Thanks for noticing!

        Also the things I’m saying is consistent with what a majority of people outside of this little echo chamber think. This group you’re in is going descending in a downward spiral of hatred. People in the same hatred spiral you’re in have already committed violent acts, and more have attempted violence. This hatred of Israel will not lead to anything positive. Nothing good for the Palestinian people will come from this hatred.

        I see photos of Gaza and I see a lot of similarity with the photos of German cities at the end of WWII. Germans were so indoctrinated in the politics of hatred (the same politics people here are engaging in) that the refused to accept defeat even when it was obvious to anyone. So they fought to the bitter end for the politics they were too indoctrinated in to accept reality and it destroyed their country.

        Unlike the German people, I fear that because of outside pressure Palestinians may not be able to escape the politics of hatred even after they’ve experienced the destruction it lead to. Too much outside pressure on Palestinians (primarily from Iran, but you can see it even in the rhetoric here) to continue dying for the interests of others rather than negotiating with Israel to get as much as they can for themselves.

        The real tragedy of this is that even if there was a ceasefire agreement tomorrow, a conflict similar to this will probably happen again for the next generation. It won’t be because of people like me that call for Hamas to surrender. It’ll be because of the people like you that “disagree with me” who push for Arabs to continue dying to serve the interests of Iranians.

        Someone has to tell the truth around here, no matter how unpopular it may be.

      • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.caEnglish
        1·
        18 hours ago

        Because the UN obviously failed to disarm Hezbollah. Hezbollah were planning to use the weapons the UN failed to take from to attack Israel in a similar way (but on a larger scale) to October 7.

        The Peacekeepers failed to keep the peace. Hezbollah has been firing rockets (which according to the UN, they shouldn’t have) at Israel for a year. Many times at civilian population centers.

        There is no reason for Peacekeepers to stay in a war zone.

          • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.caEnglish
            1·
            10 hours ago

            That’s good for you to admit that Hamas, Hezbollahand the Houthis are attacking Israel. Making progress!

            So your main issue is that you want war to be fair, like it’s a sport? It’s not a sport, people die in wars. Making it fair just means it drags out longer causing more loss of life.

            That graph also indicated that Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis are outmatched and should give up on trying to defeat Israel on a battle field. They should put down their weapons and sit down at a negotiating table. They aren’t going to get everything they want (that’s the nature of negotiation) but they’d get something and people don’t have to needlessly die in their futile wars. And the longer they fight the less they’ll get in any kind of peace.

            You’ve just proven the stupidity of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance”. But these are fascist strongman “blood and soil” type movements and those type of movements are known for their stupidity resulting in their destruction.

            • Keeponstalin@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
              1·
              10 hours ago

              Yes, people under the violence of Occupation, Settler Colonialism, and Apartheid are bound to fight back by any means possible, regardless of the difference in military capability. Israel has been the one that has prevented peace for generations. Made all the more obvious when they assassinate the principal negotiator of peace talks.

              Settlements, Occupation, and Apartheid

              Israel justifies the settlements and military bases in the West Bank in the name of Security. However, the reality of the settlements on-the-ground has been the cause of violent resistance and a significant obstacle to peace, as it has been for decades.

              This type of settlement, where the native population gets ‘Transferred’ to make room for the settlers, is a long standing practice.

              The mass ethnic cleansing campaign of 1948:

              Further, declassified Israeli documents show that the Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip were deliberately planned before being executed in 1967:

              While the peace process was exploited to continue de-facto annexation of the West Bank via Settlements

              The settlements are maintained through a violent apartheid that routinely employs violence towards Palestinians and denies human rights like water access, civil rights, etc. This kind of control gives rise to violent resistance to the Apartheid occupation, jeopardizing the safety of Israeli civilians.

              The apartheid regime is based on organized, systemic violence against Palestinians, which is carried out by numerous agents: the government, the military, the Civil Administration, the Supreme Court, the Israel Police, the Israel Security Agency, the Israel Prison Service, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and others. Settlers are another item on this list, and the state incorporates their violence into its own official acts of violence. Settler violence sometimes precedes instances of official violence by Israeli authorities, and at other times is incorporated into them. Like state violence, settler violence is organized, institutionalized, well-equipped and implemented in order to achieve a defined strategic goal.

              Visualizing the Ethnic Cleansing

              Peace Process and Solution

              Both Hamas and Fatah have agreed to a Two-State solution based on the 1967 borders for decades. Oslo and Camp David were used by Israel to continue settlements in the West Bank and maintain an Apartheid, while preventing any actual Two-State solution

              How Avi Shlaim moved from two-state solution to one-state solution

              ‘One state is a game changer’: A conversation with Ilan Pappe

              One State Solution, Foreign Affairs

              Hamas proposed a full prisoner swap as early as Oct 8th, and agreed to the US proposed UN Permanent Ceasefire Resolution. Additionally, Hamas has already agreed to no longer govern the Gaza Strip, as long as Palestinians receive liberation and a unified government can take place.

              During the current war, Hamas officials have said that the group does not want to return to ruling Gaza and that it advocates for forming a government of technocrats to be agreed upon by the various Palestinian factions. That government would then prepare for elections in Gaza and the West Bank, with the intention of forming a unified government.

    • Keeponstalin@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      13·
      2 days ago

      Israel targeting Civilians and UN personnel/facilities with the justification of ‘human shields’ is nothing new.

      • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.caEnglish
        2·
        17 hours ago

        Yeah they’re soldiers, they follow orders. The UN leadership is abdicating it’s responsibility to ensure the safety of the soldiers that countries have generously provided them. So they’re having Peacekeepers that no longer have a missions stay in an obvious warzone because why? The leadership at the UN is acting like children here. They’re putting lives at risk for their own petty reasons.