BEIRUT: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called on the UN chief to move UN peacekeepers deployed in southern Lebanon out of “harm’s way.”
Netanyahu’s appeal to UN chief Antonio Guterres comes a day after the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, refused to withdraw from the border area despite five of its members being wounded in Israeli fire in recent days.
“Mr Secretary General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm’s way. It should be done right now, immediately,” Netanyahu said in a video statement issued by his office, in what were his first comments on the issue.
Netanyahu, speaking at a cabinet meeting, said Israeli forces had asked UNIFIL several times to leave but it had “met with repeated refusals” that provided a “human shield to Hezbollah terrorists.”
“Your refusal to evacuate the UNIFIL soldiers makes them hostages of Hezbollah. This endangers both them and the lives of our soldiers,” Netanyahu said.
“We regret the injuring of UNIFIL soldiers and we are doing everything in our power to prevent this injuring. But the simple and obvious way to ensure this is simply to get them out of the danger zone.”
UNIFIL has refused to leave its positions in southern Lebanon.
“There was a unanimous decision to stay because it’s important for the UN flag to still fly high in this region, and to be able to report to the Security Council,” UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti told AFP in an interview on Saturday.
Tenenti said Israel had asked UNIFIL to withdraw from positions “up to five kilometers (three miles) from the Blue Line” separating both countries, but the peacekeepers refused.
That would have included its 29 positions in Lebanon’s south.
UNIFIL, a mission of about 9,500 troops of various nationalities that was created in 1978, is tasked with monitoring a ceasefire that ended a 33-day war in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah.
Forty nations that contribute to the peacekeeping force in Lebanon said on Saturday that they “strongly condemn recent attacks” on the peacekeepers.
“Such actions must stop immediately and should be adequately investigated,” said the joint statement, posted on X by the Polish UN mission and signed by nations including leading contributors Indonesia, Italy and India.
Netanyahu tells UN chief to move peacekeepers in Lebanon out of ‘harm’s way immediately’
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Netanyahu tells UN chief to move peacekeepers in Lebanon out of ‘harm’s way immediately’
- Netanyahu’s appeal to UN chief Antonio Guterres comes a day after UNIFIL refused to withdraw
Iraq PM candidate Al-Maliki meets senior US diplomat
- Last month President Donald Trump intervened in Iraq’s affairs by issuing an ultimatum that if Al-Maliki — a two-time former premier with close ties to Iran — was named Iraq’s next prime minister, the US would no longer help the country
BAGHDAD: The leading candidate to become Iraq’s next prime minister, Nouri Al-Maliki, met with US diplomat Tom Barrack on Friday after refusing to withdraw his nomination despite the US threatening to stop supporting the country if he returns to the post.
Barrack, the US envoy to Syria and ambassador to Turkiye, has recently visited Iraq multiple times to meet with senior officials.
Maliki’s media office said in a short statement that the PM candidate stressed during the meeting “the need to respect Iraq’s sovereignty and the will of its people.”
He also spoke of the “importance of supporting the democratic process and strengthening political stability” in Iraq.
It wasn’t clear what message Barrack conveyed to Maliki.
Last month President Donald Trump intervened in Iraq’s affairs by issuing an ultimatum that if Al-Maliki — a two-time former premier with close ties to Iran — was named Iraq’s next prime minister, the US would no longer help the country.
Trump’s threat left Iraqi leaders at a loss, particularly within the Coordination Framework — a ruling alliance of Shiite groups with varying degrees of links to Iran that nominated Maliki.
Earlier this week, Al-Maliki told AFP he would not withdraw his nomination, while also seeking to allay Washington’s concerns.
“I have absolutely no intention of withdrawing out of respect for my country, its sovereignty, and its will,” Al-Maliki told AFP in an interview.
