The rubble of a house destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Deir Billa, Lebanon is pictured on October 13, 2024. Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu has called on the U.N. to remove UNIFIL peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon immediately. File
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

The U.N. Security Council expressed “strong concern” Monday (October 14, 2024) as Israel has fired on and wounded U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon during intensified fighting, reiterating its support for their role in supporting security in the region.

It’s the first statement by the U.N.’s most powerful body since Israel’s attacks on the positions of the peacekeeping force known as United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) began last week, drawing international condemnation.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix told reporters that Secretary-General António Guterres confirmed Monday (October 14, 2024) that peacekeepers will remain in all their positions even as Israel has urged the peacekeepers to move 5 km (3 miles) north during its ground invasion in Lebanon.

Israel has been escalating its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon across a U.N.-drawn boundary between the two countries. The sides have been clashing since the Iranian-backed militant group started firing rockets a year ago in solidarity with its ally Hamas in Gaza. Hamas’ deadly attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, launched the war.

The Security Council statement, issued after emergency closed consultations on Lebanon, did not name either Israel, Lebanon or Hezbollah. Read by Swiss U.N. Ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl, the council’s current president, it urges all parties “to respect the safety and security of UNIFIL personnel and U.N. premises.”

The 15-member Security Council has been deeply divided over the war in Gaza, with the United States defending its ally Israel as support for the Palestinians has grown among members and casualties have escalated. The Biden administration has become more critical of civilian deaths as well as the recent attacks on UNIFIL.

U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood told reporters that “it’s good that the council can speak with one voice on what’s on the minds of all people around the world right now – and it’s the situation in Lebanon.”

The council’s statement sends a message to the Lebanese people “that the council cares, that the council is watching this issue and that the council today spoke with one voice,” Mr. Wood said.

Council members also expressed “deep concern” at civilian casualties and suffering, the destruction of civilian infrastructure and the rising number of internally displaced people.

More than 1,400 people in Lebanon, including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million displaced in the past month. Around 60 Israelis have been killed in Hezbollah strikes in the past year. Israel says it wants to drive the militant group away from the border so some 60,000 displaced Israelis can return to their homes.

The Security Council statement called on all parties to abide by international humanitarian law, which requires the protection of civilians.

Council members also called for the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war “and recognized the need for further practical measures to achieve that outcome.”

That resolution calls for the Lebanese army to deploy throughout the south and for all armed groups, including Hezbollah, to be disarmed – neither of which has happened in the past 18 years.

Mr. Lacroix, the undersecretary-general for peace operations, told reporters after his closed briefing to the Security Council that five UNIFIL peacekeepers have been injured in recent days and that the U.N. has protested to Israel.

Israel has indicated “investigations will be carried out regarding some of these incidents … and we will see what comes out of this,” he said.

Israeli Army spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani asserted Sunday (October 13, 2024) that Israel has tried to maintain constant contact with UNIFIL and that any instance of U.N. forces being harmed will be investigated at “the highest level.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for UNIFIL to heed Israel’s warnings to evacuate, accusing them of “providing a human shield” to Hezbollah.

“We regret the injury to the UNIFIL soldiers, and we are doing everything in our power to prevent this injury. But the simple and obvious way to ensure this is simply to get them out of the danger zone,” he said Sunday (October 13, 2024) in a video addressed to the U.N. secretary-general, who has been banned from entering Israel.

Mr. Lacroix on Monday (October 14, 2024) stressed that all parties have a responsibility to ensure the safety and security of the peacekeepers.

He also said it’s important that the peacekeepers stay in their positions “because we all hope there will be a return to the negotiation table, and that there will be finally a real effort to full implementation of resolution 1701.”

India has voiced hope that Palestine’s bid to become a full member of the United Nations, which was blocked by the U.S. last month, will be reconsidered and its endeavour to become a member of the world organisation will get endorsed.

The U.S. vetoed a resolution in the UN Security Council on a Palestinian bid to be granted full membership of the United Nations last month. The 15-nation Council had voted on a draft resolution that would have recommended to the 193-member UN General Assembly “that the State of Palestine be admitted to membership in the United Nations.”

The resolution got 12 votes in its favour, with Switzerland and the UK abstaining and the U.S. casting its veto. To be adopted, the draft resolution required at least nine Council members voting in its favour, with no vetoes by any of its five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

“While we have noted that Palestine’s application for membership at the United Nations was not approved by the Security Council because of the aforesaid veto, I would like to state here at the very outset that in keeping with India’s long-standing position, we hope that this would be reconsidered in due course and that Palestine’s endeavour to become a member of the United Nations will get endorsed,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said here.

India was the first non-Arab State to recognise the Palestine Liberation Organization as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in 1974. India was also one of the first countries to recognise the State of Palestine in 1988 and in 1996, Delhi opened its Representative Office to the Palestine Authority in Gaza, which later was shifted to Ramallah in 2003.

Currently, Palestine is a “non-member observer state” at the UN, a status granted to it by the General Assembly in 2012. This status allows Palestine to participate in proceedings of the world body but it cannot vote on resolutions. The only other non-member Observer State at the UN is the Holy See, representing the Vatican.

Addressing a General Assembly meeting on Wednesday, Ms. Kamboj underlined that India’s leadership has repeatedly emphasised that only a two-state solution achieved through direct and meaningful negotiations between Israel and Palestine on final status issues will deliver an enduring peace.

“India is committed to supporting a two-state solution where the Palestinian people are able to live freely in an independent country within secure borders with due regard to the security needs of Israel,” she said.

Ms. Kamboj stressed that to arrive at a lasting solution, India would urge all parties to foster conditions conducive to resuming direct peace negotiations at an early date.

On April 2, Palestine sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres requesting that its application for full U.N. membership be considered again. For a State to be granted full UN membership, its application must be approved both by the Security Council and the General Assembly, where a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting is required for the State to be admitted as a full member.

Ms. Kamboj noted that the latest conflict in Gaza has been ongoing for over six months and the humanitarian crisis that it has triggered has been increasing.

“There is also the potential for growing instability in the region and beyond,” she added.

Underlining India’s position on the conflict, Ms. Kamboj said the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has led to a large-scale loss of civilian lives, especially women and children, and a humanitarian crisis, which is simply unacceptable. India has strongly condemned the deaths of civilians in the conflict.

Ms. Kamboj said the terror attacks in Israel on October 7 were shocking and deserve “unequivocal condemnation.

“There can be no justification for terrorism and hostage-taking. India has a long-standing and uncompromising position against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. And we demand the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” Ms. Kamboj said.

India stressed that it is imperative that humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza be scaled up immediately in order to avert a further deterioration in the situation. “We urge all parties to come together in this endeavour,” Ms. Kamboj said, adding that India has provided humanitarian aid to the people of Palestine and that it will continue to do so.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), citing Gaza’s Ministry of Health data, said that from October 7, 2023, till now, at least 34,568 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 77,765 Palestinians injured.

OCHA said that between the afternoons of April 28 and May 1, two Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. According to the Israeli military, 262 soldiers have been killed and 1,602 soldiers have been injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel.

As of May 1, Israeli authorities estimate that 133 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld, it said.

New Delhi:

India has stressed on the need for urgent reforms within the United Nations Security Council saying that the global body is otherwise heading towards “oblivion”. Expressing frustration over prolonged discussions, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ruchira Kamboj said nearly 25 years have passed since world leaders committed to comprehensive reforms at the Millennium Summit in 2000.

“Discussions on Security Council reforms have persisted earnestly for well over a decade since the early 1990s. The world and our future generations can no longer afford to wait. How much longer must they wait?” she said during an informal meeting on Security Council reforms.

Ms Kamboj urged concrete progress toward reforms, emphasizing the importance of heeding the voices of the younger generation and rectifying historical injustices, especially in Africa.

Warning against maintaining the status quo, Ms Kamboj proposed a more inclusive approach, cautioning that restricting Security Council expansion to non-permanent members could exacerbate disparities in its composition. She emphasized the need for representativeness and equitable participation to enhance the Council’s overall legitimacy.

“We must push forward a reform heeding the voices of the young and future generations, including from Africa, where the demand to correct historical injustice grows even stronger. Otherwise, we simply risk sending the council down the path of oblivion and irrelevant,” she said.

#WATCH | At the UNGA, Permanent Representative of India to the UN, Ruchira Kamboj says, ” Discussions on reform of the Security Council have been going on, as you well know, in earnest for well over a decade, since the early 1990s. In addition, world leaders at the Millennium… pic.twitter.com/qyHbJgTGAA

— ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2024

Echoing India’s call for greater representation, the G4 countries—India, Brazil, Germany, and Japan—emphasized the importance of reflecting the diversity and plurality of views from the 193 member states, particularly in the non-permanent category.

In a practical move, Kamboj suggested identifying specific groups or countries deserving special consideration in the reform process and listening carefully to their voices. “Member states should also make full use of the possibility of cross-regional arrangements to ensure that the diversity of the General Assembly membership is adequately reflected in the Council,” she said. “To move the discussion from the abstract to the concrete, in our view, it would be useful for member states to first identify and define which specific groups or countries deserve special consideration in this regard and then carefully listen to their voices.”

Earlier on February 17, Ms Kamboj had reiterated India’s support for comprehensive reforms of the UNSC across all five clusters, including an expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories.