BRUSSELS: European Union countries that contribute to UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL in Lebanon have no intention of pulling back from the south of the country despite Israeli calls to do so, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said.
Since an Israeli ground operation against Hezbollah militants began on Oct. 1, UNIFIL positions have come under fire and two Israeli tanks burst through the gates of one of its bases, the UN says. Five peacekeepers have been injured.
Sixteen EU countries, including Austria, contribute to UNIFIL and the recent incidents have sparked widespread alarm among European governments.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the UN to withdraw UNIFIL “from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones.”
But Schallenberg, summarizing a discussion among EU foreign ministers on Monday, said European nations were not minded to pull troops back or out.
“There was no debate about pulling back or whatever,” he said in an interview in Brussels.
“They are there to stay but the security and the safety of our troops is paramount and has to be ensured by everybody,” said Schallenberg, whose country has about 160 soldiers in UNIFIL.
European nations contribute about 3,600 troops to the 10,000-strong force.
EU contributors plan to hold a video call on Wednesday on their current posture and the longer-term role of the mission when it comes to troop levels, equipment and rules of engagement, according to European officials.
Israeli officials have said their forces are not deliberately targeting UNIFIL but Hezbollah has used peacekeepers’ positions as cover for attacks and Israel has a right to respond.
Schallenberg said Israel had a right to defend itself against Hezbollah but even unintentional attacks on peacekeeping positions were a breach of international law.
“There’s a clear demand on Israel to be very cautious on this,” he said in the interview, which took place late on Tuesday afternoon.
EU won’t pull back UN troops from south Lebanon, Austrian minister says
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EU won’t pull back UN troops from south Lebanon, Austrian minister says
- Benjamin Netanyahu earlier called on the UN to withdraw UNIFIL ‘from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones’
- European nations contribute about 3,600 troops to the 10,000-strong UNIFIL force in Lebanon
Israel operating beyond ceasefire line in Gaza, satellite images suggest
- BBC probe identifies Yellow Line markers hundreds of meters further into Hamas-controlled land than agreed in US-backed deal
- Security expert: Moving of markers, accompanying destruction would reduce swath of Gaza to ‘sterilized belt’
LONDON: Israel has moved the so-called Yellow Line marking the boundary of its area of control within Gaza, satellite images show.
A report by the BBC suggests that Israeli personnel have moved blocks denoting the line of control further inside territory ostensibly controlled by Hamas in at least three areas of Gaza.
The move endangers Palestinians living nearby who have been left unclear where they can move freely, after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned in October that the military would open fire on anyone crossing the Yellow Line.
The line’s markers have been moved further inside Hamas-controlled territory at Beit Lahia, Jabalia and Al-Tuffah, images seen by BBC Verify suggest.
In total, 16 markers were moved in the three areas, at an average of 295 meters beyond their original positions.
The BBC mapped another 205 Yellow Line markers across Gaza, with more than half of them found to have been placed further inside Hamas territory than previously agreed under the US-backed ceasefire plan.
It added that some areas of the Yellow Line — amounting to nearly 10 km in total — remain unmarked almost three months after the ceasefire came into effect, despite Katz’s warning to civilians.
A Palestinian told the BBC that in December Israeli troops moved markers around where he lives, leaving him “trapped” on the Israeli side.
“We are now living inside the Yellow Line, (but) behind the yellow blocks, with no idea what our fate will be,” said the man, whom the BBC did not name for his safety.
“The atmosphere at night is terrifying. We hear shells exploding, soldiers advancing, gunfire, and drones buzzing overhead without pause. We are also being shot at directly.”
The BBC said satellite images showed that Israeli vehicles and personnel frequently crossed the Yellow Line despite the ceasefire agreement prohibiting them from doing so.
It added that armored vehicles had been spotted at Bani Suhaila roundabout in Khan Younis, 400 meters west of the line, in verified footage, and that tanks and heavy machinery had been identified 260 meters beyond the line in Beit Lahia.
The forays into Hamas territory have often been accompanied by demolitions of buildings and infrastructure.
At least 69 incidents have been identified by the BBC since the ceasefire came into effect of Israeli troops shooting at Palestinian civilians in the vicinity of the Yellow Line.
They include an airstrike on a school building on Dec. 19 in Al-Tuffah, which was 330 meters inside the Yellow Line on the Hamas side, but which was close to a marker denoting the line that had been moved from where it should have been. The strike killed five people, local authorities said.
In Jabalia on Dec. 10, 17-year-old Zaher Nasser Shamiya was shot and run over by an Israeli tank on the Hamas side of the Yellow Line, his father said.
“The tank turned his body into pieces … It came into the safe area (west of the Yellow Line) and ran over him,” he told the BBC.
In November, two children were reportedly killed west of the line while out gathering firewood for their family.
Middle East security expert Prof. Andreas Krieg told the BBC: “By keeping the legal line on the map and the physical blocks hundreds of meters apart, Israel preserves the ability to shift where Gazans may live, move and farm without ever formally announcing a change of border.”
On Wednesday, Israel is due to begin withdrawing from more parts of Gaza under the terms of the US plan, but no timeline has been put in place as yet.
Krieg warned that Israel’s continued moving of the Yellow Line markers and the accompanying destruction would reduce a swath of Gaza to a “sterilized belt.”
He told the BBC: “In practice, that means the status of land is less about what the ceasefire map says and more about where concrete blocks sit on a given day.”
