BEIRUT: Israeli drones dropped four grenades close to UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel as they were working to clear roadblocks, the force said Wednesday. No one was hurt in the attack.
The peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL described the Tuesday morning incident as “one of the most serious attacks on UNIFIL personnel and assets” since the cessation of hostilities in November that ended the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war.
The Israeli military said later Wednesday that it did not intentionally target the peacekeepers but dropped several sonic bombs near a suspect in a border area. It added that contact was made with the peacekeeping force and explained the details of what happened.
UNIFIL said one grenade hit within 20 meters (65 feet) and three others within approximately 100 meters (330 feet) of UN personnel and vehicles, adding the drones were observed returning toward Israel.
UNIFIL said the Israeli military had been informed in advance of the peacekeeping force’s road clearance work in the area, southeast of the village of Marwahin and less than a kilometer (mile) from the border line.
“Out of concern for the safety of peacekeepers following the incident, yesterday’s work was suspended,” UNIFIL said.
France, which has a large force within UNIFIL, condemned the attack, saying that the “respect of its members applies to all parties without exception.” Qatar called it a “grave violation of international humanitarian law” and the UN Security Council resolution that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The attack came after the UN Security Council voted unanimously last week to terminate the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon at the end of next year after nearly five decades, bowing to demands from the United States and Israel.
The multinational peacekeeping force has played a significant role in monitoring the security situation in southern Lebanon for decades, including during the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. It has also drawn criticism from both sides and from officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, which has moved to slash US funding for the operation as Trump remakes America’s approach to foreign policy.
The Israel-Hezbollah war killed over 4,000 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of civilians, and caused destruction worth $11 billion, according to the World Bank. In Israel, 127 people died, including 80 soldiers.
UNIFIL said any actions that endanger peacekeepers and assets or interfere with their tasks are unacceptable and a serious violation of international law and the resolution that ended the war. It added it is the Israeli military’s responsibility to ensure the safety and security of the peacekeepers performing Security Council-mandated tasks.
The Israeli military said its troops carried out an operation inside Lebanon on the edge of the disputed Chebaa Farms, where they detonated artillery pieces that were used by Hezbollah members during the war. Chebaa Farms was captured by Israel from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war, but Lebanon considers it and the nearby Kfar Chouba hills as Lebanese territories.
Israel criticized after drones drop grenades near UN peacekeepers in Lebanon
https://arab.news/wkcy2
Israel criticized after drones drop grenades near UN peacekeepers in Lebanon
- The Israeli military said later Wednesday that it did not intentionally target the peacekeepers
- France, which has a large force within UNIFIL, condemned the attack, saying that the “respect of its members applies to all parties without exception”
Israel gives legal status to 19 West Bank settlements
- Construction of settlements — including some built without official Israeli authorization — has increased under Israel’s far-right governing coalition, fragmenting the West Bank and cutting off Palestinian towns and cities from each other
JERUSALEM: Israel’s Cabinet has decided to give legal status to 19 settlements in the occupied West Bank, including two that were vacated 20 years ago under a pullout aimed at boosting the country’s security and the economy, Israeli media reported.
The Palestinian Authority on Friday condemned the move, announced late on Thursday.
Some of the settlements are newly established, while others are older, Israeli media said.
The move to legalize the settlements in the West Bank — territory Palestinians seek for a future state — was proposed by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.
Most world powers deem Israel’s settlements, on land it captured in a 1967 war, illegal. Numerous UN Security Council resolutions have called on Israel to halt all settlement activity.
Construction of settlements — including some built without official Israeli authorization — has increased under Israel’s far-right governing coalition, fragmenting the West Bank and cutting off Palestinian towns and cities from each other.
The 19 settlements include two that Israel withdrew from in 2005, evacuated under a disengagement plan overseen by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that focused mainly on Gaza.
Under the plan, which was opposed by the settler movement at the time, all 21 Israeli settlements in Gaza were ordered to be evacuated. Most settlements in the West Bank were unaffected.
In a statement on Friday, Palestinian Authority Minister Mu’ayyad Sha’ban called the announcement another step to erase Palestinian geography.
Sha’ban, of the Palestinian Authority’s Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, said the decision raised serious alarms over the future of the West Bank.
Home to 2.7 million Palestinians, the Israeli-occupied West Bank has long been at the heart of plans for a future Palestinian nation existing alongside Israel.
Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians reached their highest recorded levels in October with settlers carrying out at least 264 attacks, according to the UN.
