PARIS: UN peacekeepers on the Israeli-Lebanese border have never been more crucial, the force’s global chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix said Tuesday, as fears soared of an escalation in the Middle East.
Since Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, sparking a war in the Gaza Strip, Israel and Lebanese movement Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, have traded near-daily cross-border fire.
But worry has grown of a wider regional conflict, especially after the killing, blamed on Israel, of a top Hamas leader in Iran and an Israeli air strike that killed a Hezbollah commander in the Beirut southern suburbs last week.
The role of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, was today “more important than ever,” Under Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix told AFP.
“It’s the only liaison channel between the Israeli side and the Lebanese side in all its components, such as Hezbollah,” he said.
“It’s fundamental because it allows us to clarify certain things and avoid misunderstandings... miscalculations, uncontrolled and unwanted escalations,” he said.
UNIFIL, which has around 10,000 troops based in south Lebanon, was also key in informing all sides “when, for example, there are people who have been wounded or even killed in the area and someone needs to go in to rescue them or remove the bodies.”
The troops also continued to carry out regular patrols “in liaison with the Lebanese army,” he said.
Lacroix said the peacekeepers were staying in place for now, and only if it became impossible for them to carry out their mission or if there were “very, very serious threats” to their security would their presence be reconsidered.
The peacekeeping force had already seen several of its members wounded, and damage done to some of its camps, he said.
In the past, UNIFIL patrols have occasionally faced harassment, and in December 2022 an Irish soldier with the force was killed and three colleagues wounded when their convoy came under fire in south Lebanon.
The UN peacekeeping chief said a Gaza ceasefire was key to de-escalation on the Israeli-Lebanon border.
“What we want is a cessation of hostilities in Gaza as well as between Lebanon and Israel straight away, because each day that goes by brings its batch of victims, destruction and displacements, and it cannot last,” he said.
“Every day that goes by also compounds an absolutely terrible risk of uncontrolled escalations, of conflagrations in the entire region.”
Almost 10 months of cross-border violence has killed at least 555 people in Lebanon, most of them fighters but also including 116 civilians, according to an AFP tally.
On the Israeli side, 22 soldiers and 25 civilians have been killed, the Israeli authorities say.
“Probably, after what has happened in the past days, the chances of progress toward a Gaza deal, at least in the short term, are weak,” he added.
“But it is hoped that a cessation of hostilities in Gaza would lead to the same thing between Israel and Lebanon.”
Once a ceasefire was in place, both sides would have to return to a “substantial negotiation process” to finally implement UN Security Council resolution 1701.
That decision ended a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and called for the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers to be the only armed forces deployed in the country’s south.
Lacroix said he was optimistic the UN Security Council would renew UNIFIL’s mandate, which runs out at the end of the month, for another year.
UN peacekeepers on Israel-Lebanon border ‘fundamental’, says chief
https://arab.news/rtrpc
UN peacekeepers on Israel-Lebanon border ‘fundamental’, says chief
- The role of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, was today “more important than ever,” Under Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix told AFP
- “It’s the only liaison channel between the Israeli side and the Lebanese side in all its components, such as Hezbollah“
Civilians bear brunt in ‘catastrophic’ Lebanon conflict, UN official says
- Imran Riza, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, said the pace of displacement since Sept. 23 had exceeded worst case scenarios
- “The level of trauma, the level of fear among the population, has been extreme,” he said
BEIRUT: Civilians are bearing the brunt of a “truly catastrophic” situation in Lebanon, a senior UN official said, urging respect for the rules of war nearly two weeks since Israel launched a major offensive against the armed group Hezbollah.
With around 1 million people in Lebanon impacted, Imran Riza, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, said the pace of displacement since Sept. 23 had exceeded worst case scenarios, and too much damage was being done to civilian infrastructure.
“What we saw from Sept. 23 on is truly catastrophic,” Riza said in an interview with Reuters on Thursday. He was referring to the day when Israel dramatically ramped up airstrikes in Lebanon, killing more than 500 people in a single day, according to Lebanese government figures.
“The level of trauma, the level of fear among the population, has been extreme,” he said.
Israel says its campaign against the heavily armed, Iran-backed Hezbollah aims to secure the return home of Israelis evacuated from areas near the Lebanese border as a result of nearly a year of Hezbollah fire into northern Israel.
The Lebanese government says around 1.2 million people have been displaced by Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, the southern suburbs of Beirut and other parts of the country. Some have been killed in Israeli strikes after having been displaced.
“You’ve got people being displaced from one place to another, thinking they were going to a safe place, and then that being struck,” Riza said.
Riza said 97 medical and emergency workers had been killed — the majority of them in the last 10 days. There has been too much damage to civilian infrastructure, and civilians have been “bearing the great brunt of what’s been going on,” he said.
He noted that international humanitarian law requires that humanitarians be allowed to access people in need, and that civilian infrastructure and water systems be protected.
“This is what we call for when we’re saying respect the rules of war in this,” he said. “Unfortunately, we are seeing a situation where we have to go back to everybody and advocate for these basics in terms of protecting civilians.”
The conflict began a nearly a year ago when Hezbollah opened fire in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas, at the start of the Gaza war. It marks the worst conflict since Hezbollah fought a 34-day war with Israel in 2006.
Riza and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Tuesday launched a $426 million appeal to mobilize resources for civilians affected by the conflict.
Lebanon was already suffering myriad crises before this conflict began.
As a result, Riza said Lebanon was less well placed to deal with conflict now than in 2006: “People don’t have buffers the way they had in 2006, on the other hand the institutions that are there to help them are much weaker.”
Yemen’s government asks Yemenis to leave Lebanon as war intensifies
- Houthis claim their military forces launched barrage of drones at ‘vital targets’ in the Israeli capital in support of Palestinian and Lebanese people
- Yemenis who wish to leave Lebanon should first request a transit visit from the Syrian government
AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s government has asked its citizens in Lebanon to leave as the war between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah escalates.
The Yemeni embassy in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, has requested that Yemenis in Lebanon travel by land to the Lebanon-Syria border due to the lack of charter flights for air evacuation.
Yemenis who wish to leave Lebanon should first request a transit visit from the Syrian government, it said.
The Yemeni embassy will arrange buses and other transport to take them by land from Lebanon to Syria and then to Jordan, where they will be transferred to Yemeni Sanaa or Aden airports on Yemenia Airways flights, according to the Yemeni embassy.
This comes as Yemenis in Lebanon have urged their government to evacuate them immediately as Israel has increased its airstrikes on the Lebanese capital and other areas of the country, targeting Hezbollah locations.
However, Yemenis reject the embassy’s proposal to evacuate them by land to Syria, saying that the Syria border crossing with Lebanon is congested with thousands of people fleeing the war and also prone to Israeli airstrikes.
Mushtaq Anaam, a Yemeni national living in Beirut’s Cola, told Arab News that a recent Israeli airstrike struck 70 meters from where he lives and that he refused to travel from Lebanon to Syria by land after hearing an Israeli military spokesperson threaten to strike the Lebanon-Syria border, claiming it to be an entry point for weapons to Hezbollah.
“I’d rather stay here than travel through Syria, which is a dangerous route that has been bombed repeatedly,” said Anaam, who is a postgraduate student in Lebanon.
Anaam suggested that the Yemeni government work with the Lebanese authorities to allow Yemenia Airways planes to transport them or that they be evacuated by sea.
“The situation here is dire, and the war is becoming more intense by the day,” he said.
However, the Yemeni embassy in Beirut said that it was unable to secure a flight to evacuate Yemenis by air and that the only viable option was to travel by land through Syria.
The Yemeni embassy in Beirut and Yemeni foreign ministry officials were unavailable on Thursday to respond to Arab News’ requests for comment.
Meanwhile, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea claimed on Thursday that their military forces launched a barrage of drones at “vital targets” in the Israeli capital in support of the Palestinian and Lebanese people, vowing to carry out more attacks on Israel until it ended its war in Palestine and Lebanon.
The Israeli military said that it shot down a drone over the Mediterranean Gush Dan on Thursday morning, while another landed in an open area, but did not elaborate on the origins of the two drones.
Israeli warplanes launched a series of airstrikes on Yemen’s western city of Hodeidah on Sunday, targeting ports, power plants and fuel tanks in response to a Houthi missile attack on Israel’s capital.
Since November, the Houthis have attacked more than 100 commercial and naval ships in the Red Sea and other seas off Yemen, using drones, ballistic missiles and drone boats in a campaign that the Yemeni militia claims is in support of the Palestinian people.
Biden says ‘discussing’ possible Israeli strikes on Iran oil facilities
- When asked by a reporter if he supported Israel striking Iran’s oil facilities, Biden said “we’re discussing that. I think that would be a little... anyway“
- Biden said he did not expect any immediate action from Israel
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden said he was discussing possible Israeli strikes on Iranian oil facilities, in comments that sent oil prices spiking Thursday just a month before the US presidential election.
Biden told reporters at the White House however that he was not expecting Israel to launch any retaliation for Tehran’s missile barrage on Israel before Thursday at least.
When asked by a reporter if he supported Israel striking Iran’s oil facilities, Biden said “we’re discussing that. I think that would be a little... anyway.”
Oil prices jumped five percent over concerns about the Middle East after Biden spoke.
A rise in oil prices could be hugely damaging for Biden’s Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democrat confronts Republican former president Donald Trump in a November 5 election where the cost of living is a major issue.
Biden said he did not expect any immediate action from Israel — even if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently paid little heed to calls for restraint as he targets the Iran-allied Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
“First of all, we don’t ‘allow’ Israel, we advise Israel. And there is nothing going to happen today,” Biden told reporters when asked if he would allow Israel to retaliate against Iran.
Biden said on Wednesday that he would not back Israel attacking Iranian nuclear sites.
Iran launched around 200 rockets in a direct missile attack on Israel on Tuesday, prompting Netanyahu to warn that Tehran would pay.
Iran said it was in retaliation for the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has been launching rockets at Israel since shortly after the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Iran’s Palestinian ally Hamas, and Israel’s crushing retaliatory offensive in Gaza.
Jordanian, Japanese foreign ministers urge de-escalation amid Middle East tensions
- During their phone call, the ministers warned that the rising tensions posed serious risks to both regional and international peace and security
AMMAN: Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and his Japanese counterpart Iwaya Takeshi held urgent talks on Thursday, addressing the escalating violence in the Middle East and emphasizing the critical need for peace.
During their phone call, the ministers warned that the rising tensions posed serious risks to both regional and international security, calling for immediate efforts to prevent the situation from spiraling into a broader conflict, Jordan News Agency reported.
Both ministers stressed the importance of implementing a ceasefire in Lebanon and reaffirmed their commitment to enforcing UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for a cessation of hostilities in the region.
The discussion also touched on efforts to secure a prisoner exchange deal in Gaza, aimed at also achieving an immediate and lasting ceasefire in the enclave.
The Jordanian minister underscored the urgency of halting Israeli military operations in Gaza to prevent further escalation.
He also called for an end to Israeli actions in the West Bank and condemned extremist incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Both ministers discussed the humanitarian situation in Gaza as well as Lebanon, where nearly one million Lebanese citizens have been displaced due to ongoing Israeli aggression.
Safadi emphasized the need for coordinated humanitarian aid to both regions, urging swift action to alleviate the suffering caused by the conflict.
He reiterated that Jordan would deploy all available resources to safeguard its security and stability amid the regional turmoil, ensuring that the kingdom would not become embroiled in external conflicts.
In marking the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Jordan and Japan, the ministers also explored ways to enhance cooperation between the two countries in various fields.
Jordan to establish obstetrics and neonatal field hospital in Gaza by mid-November
- Facility first of its kind in the world to focus specifically on maternal and newborn healthcare in field setting
LONDON: Jordan will set up a field hospital focused specifically on obstetrics and neonatal care to Gaza’s Khan Younis region by mid-November, the director general of the kingdom’s Royal Medical Services said on Thursday.
The deployment will occur in four phases, Dr. Yousef Zureikat said, culminating in the hospital being fully operational and ready to receive patients next month.
The facility will be the first of its kind in the world to focus specifically on maternal and newborn healthcare in a field setting, Jordan News Agency reported.
The project, which comes under a royal directive from King Abdullah II, will be operated with oversight from the Jordan Armed Forces and also in partnership with Pious Projects, a US-based humanitarian organization.
During a press conference at King Hussein Medical City, Zureikat said that the new hospital will be integrated into the existing Jordanian field hospital “Khan Younis 4.”
This facility already provides advanced medical services, including complex surgeries and prosthetic limb fittings, as part of RMS’s “Restoring Hope” initiative, aimed at providing prosthetics to amputees in Gaza.
Zureikat said that the new field hospital will be equipped with four operating rooms — one for cesarean sections, another for natural births — as well as five resuscitation beds, 30 postpartum recovery beds, and 10 neonatal incubators. Solar energy will support the facility to ensure continuous and reliable operations.
Zureikat said the hospital will be staffed by a team of 82 professionals, including 55 from the RMS. While patient numbers are unpredictable, he confirmed that medical teams were fully prepared to manage a range of cases and provide essential care to mothers and newborns.
Siting of the hospital is being coordinated with the Gaza Municipality and other local authorities, with rehabilitation work already in progress.
