Move peacekeepers in Lebanon out of ‘harm’s way’, Netanyahu tells UN

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu. File
| Photo Credit: AP

On a day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the United Nations (UN) chief to move peacekeepers deployed in south Lebanon out of “harm’s way”, saying the Hezbollah used them as “human shields”, Iran’s Foreign Minister vowed that there would be “no red lines” for the country in defending its people and interests, even as Iran awaits Israel’s response to the October 1 missile attack.

Mr. Netanyahu’s appeal to UN chief Antonio Guterres came a day after the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) refused to withdraw from the border area despite five of its members being injured amid recent fighting. “Mr. Secretary General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm’s way. It should be done right now, immediately,” he said in a video statement.

Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, on a visit to Baghdad to discuss the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, wrote on X, “While we have made tremendous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region, I say it clearly that we have no red lines in defending our people and interests.”

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In Jerusalem, speaking ahead of a Cabinet meeting, Mr. Netanyahu said Israeli forces had asked UNIFIL several times to leave but it had “met with repeated refusals”. “Your refusal to evacuate the UNIFIL soldiers makes them hostages of Hezbollah. This endangers both them and the lives of our soldiers,” he said.

“We regret the harm to UNIFIL soldiers and we are doing our utmost to prevent such harm. But the simplest and most obvious way to ensure this is simply to withdraw them from the danger zone,” he said.

UNIFIL has refused to leave its positions in southern Lebanon. Its spokesman Andrea Tenenti told AFP on Saturday that “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”. He said Israel had asked UNIFIL to withdraw from positions “up to five kilometres from the Blue Line” separating both countries, but the peacekeepers refused.

UNIFIL, a mission of about 9,500 troops of various nationalities, was created following Israel’s 1978 invasion of Lebanon. It is currently tasked with monitoring a ceasefire that ended a 33-day war in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah.

Forty contributor nations to UNIFIL 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.

Mr. Netanyahu said the criticism of Israel was misplaced and should be directed at Hezbollah. “Instead of criticising Israel, they should direct their criticism to Hezbollah, which uses UNIFIL as a human shield, just as Hamas in Gaza uses UNRWA as a human shield,” he said of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

In January, Israel accused a dozen of UNRWA’s Gaza employees of involvement in the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas. A series of probes found some “neutrality related issues” at UNRWA, and determined that nine employees “may have been involved” in the attack.

Mr. Araghchi was in Baghdad to meet Iraqi officials. Ali al-Moussawi, political advisor to the Iraqi prime minister, told AFP Mr. Araghchi’s visit was part of a diplomatic effort “to silence weapons and violence… to establish security and stability in the region”.

In a recent interview, Mr. Araghchi said Iran does “not want war” but it was “not afraid of it.” Iran had fired 200 missiles at Israel on October 1 in what it said was retaliation for the killing of Tehran-aligned militant leaders in the region and a general in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has vowed Israel’s response will be “deadly, precise, and surprising”.

After Baghdad, the Minister will head to Oman, the Iranian ISNA news agency reported.