 "Israel attacks UN peacekeeping positions in Lebanon: Who are the 'Blue Helmets?'")
Two United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon have been injured in an Israeli attack.
The incident has sparked alarm and anger from the international community and thrown into sharp focus the role of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
The UN peacekeeping mission known as UNIFIL is stationed in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the border with Israel – an area that has seen serious clashes between Israeli troops and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters.
The development comes just a day after the peacekeeping troops agreed to deploy between the Litani River in the north and the UN-recognised boundary between Lebanon and Israel – an area known as the Blue Line.
But what do we know about the Blue Helmets? And what happened? How have countries reacted?
Let’s take a closer look:
What do we know about Blue Helmets?
The United Nations peacekeeping forces as known as the Blue Helmets.
They comprise around 97,000 uniformed personnel from over 120 countries – the majority of whom are from Asia and Africa.
As per USIP.org, they were deployed the first time in 1948 – after the Arab-Israeli War drew to a close.
At the time, the UN Security Council sent observers to West Asia to keep an eye on the Armistice Agreement.
The UN has deployed over a million peacekeepers in over 70 operations.
Over 4,000 UN peacekeepers from 120 countries have died while in service.
They are tasked with
Protecting civilians and UN personnel
Monitoring disputed borders
Monitoring and observe peace processes in post-conflict areas
Providing security across a conflict zone;
Providing security during elections;
Assisting in-country military personnel with training and support
Assisting ex-combatants in implementing the peace agreements; they may have signed.
As per WeForum.Org, they are so named because of the colour of their helmets.
They comprise military personnel, police, humanitarian specialists, legal advisors and even economists.
As of 2022, the UN had more than a dozen peacekeeping missions around the world.
Peacekeepers are present at the India-Pakistan border, in Congo, Western Sahara, Mali, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Sudan’s Abyei region, Cyprus, Lebanon, Kosovo and the border between Israel and Syria and Israel and Lebanon.
The Blue Helmets were awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1988, as per WeForum.org.
The then-UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez remarked, “The essence of peacekeeping is the use of soldiers as a catalyst for peace rather than as the instruments of war.”
“They face enormous challenges. Rising violence against peacekeepers has made their work even more dangerous. Restrictions due to the pandemic have made it more difficult,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in May 2022.
“But United Nations peacekeepers continue to serve with distinction as partners for peace.”
What about UNIFIL?
UNIFIL was established in March 1978.
The creation of the group was a response to Israel’s invasion of Lebanon.
The forces were given a mandate – confirm the withdrawal of Israeli troops, return peace and security and help Lebanon’s government reestablish its rule.
However, Israel did not withdraw its troops from Lebanon until the year 2000.
The UN then demarcated a 120-kilometre long border, known as the blue line, for the UNIFIL to monitor.
In 2006, after Israel and Hezbollah went to war, the UN updated the UNIFIL’s mission charter via Resolution 1701 to include the ending of hostilities between the two sides.
It also authorised UNIFIL peacekeepers to accompany and support the Lebanese armed forces as they deploy throughout southern Lebanon.
As pe_ r Al Jazeera,_ UNFIL currently comprises around 10,000 troops from 50 countries.
It also has 550 local and 250 international civilians.
Indonesia with 1,232 personnel is the largest contributor to UNIFIL.
Its budget is around half a billion dollars per year.
The peacekeepers usually work as a liaison between the two sides.
They try to prevent misunderstandings and incidents from flaring up into fighting.
They also patrol the area and provide training to Lebanon’s troops.
UNIFIL also has a maritime task force which provides assistance to Lebanon’s Navy in keeping an eye on its territorial waters.
UNIFIL said “MTF deployment was a landmark move that prompted Israel to lift its naval blockade on Lebanon,” in 2006.
It also helps doctors and charities support the local population.
They also work in health care, education, and infrastructure.
What happened?
UNIFIL said an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower at the force’s main headquarters in Naqoura on Thursday, hitting the tower and causing two peacekeepers to fall out of it.
“This morning, two peacekeepers were injured after an IDF Merkava tank fired its weapon toward an observation tower at UNIFIL’s headquarters in Naqura, directly hitting it and causing them to fall,” the UNIFIL was quoted as saying by Times of Israel.
The injured peacekeepers are Indonesian and were treated for light injuries, according to Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.
UNIFIL also claimed the IDF had fired at its position in Labbouneh during the past two days and on Thursday hit “a bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering,” as per Times of Israel.
The Guardian quoted UNIFIL as saying that Israeli forces “hit the entrance to the bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering, and damaging vehicles and a communications system”.
“An IDF drone was observed flying inside the UN position up to the bunker entrance,” it added. “Yesterday, IDF soldiers deliberately fired at and disabled the position’s perimeter-monitoring cameras.”
“The injuries are fortunately, this time, not serious, but they remain in hospital.”
UNIFIL called the incident a “grave violation” of international law.
Israeli troops also fired at a nearby position, damaging vehicles and a communications system, and on Wednesday “deliberately fired at and disabled” cameras monitoring the area, the peacekeeping force said in a statement.
The UNIFIL spokesperson on Thursday said that the United Nations peacekeepers are determined to remain at their posts in southern Lebanon.
Israel said its troops operated on Thursday near a UNIFIL base in Naqoura but said it instructed the UN forces in the area to remain in protected spaces, then opened fire.
“Definitely, this is probably one of the most serious events or incidents that we’ve been witnessing in the last 12 months,” Tenenti said in an interview, referring to exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
“We are there because the Security Council has asked us to be there. So we are staying until the situation becomes impossible for us to operate,” Tenenti said.
UNIFIL is mandated by the Security Council to help the Lebanese army keep the country’s south free of weapons and armed personnel other than those of the state. That has sparked friction with Hezbollah, which effectively controls the area.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with Israel since October 8, 2023, in solidarity with Hamas but the fighting has dramatically escalated in recent weeks, with Israel ramping up its strikes and making ground incursions across the length of the mountainous border between Israel and Lebanon.
The escalation has displaced about 1.2 million people in Lebanon and led to UNIFIL virtually suspending its operational activities, said UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix.
Speaking to the Security Council on Thursday, Lacroix said UNIFIL forces are “increasingly in jeopardy” and confined to their bases, and that one UNIFIL contractor had already been killed.
Lacroix said UNIFIL had decided to relocate 300 peacekeepers to larger bases temporarily for their safety. Tenenti said some bases were also hosting displaced Lebanese from areas heavily bombed by Israel.
Tenenti said the attacks on the watchtower, cameras, communications equipment and lighting had limited the group’s monitoring abilities. UN sources said they feared Israeli attacks would make it impossible to monitor any violations of international law in the zone.
Tenenti said the force still had crucial work to do “assisting local NGOs and also UN agencies, to bring the much-needed food and water to all these villages.”
“Thousands of people have left, but thousands are still stuck in this area. So deconflicting is very important. That has been very, very challenging,” Tenenti said.
The UN’s children’s agency UNICEF said it and the World Food Programme were delivering essential aid to the thousands of families still in border villages in southern Lebanon “with UNIFIL support in implementing deconfliction mechanisms.”
Journalists including Reuters also regularly coordinate with UNIFIL when traveling to southern Lebanon to make sure all parties know they are in the area.
The Israeli military asked UN peacekeepers last week to prepare to relocate more than 5 km (3 miles) from the border “as soon as possible, in order to maintain your safety,” according to an excerpt from the message seen by Reuters.
In the same period, UNIFIL sent a letter to the Israeli military objecting to army vehicles and troops positioning themselves “in immediate proximity” to UN positions on several occasions, including by circling Israeli Merkava tanks around their posts or parking next to them.
The letter, dated Oct. 3 and seen by Reuters, said Israeli forces had conducted “engineering works” on the outer perimeter of a UN peacekeeping post that resulted in the Israeli position and the UN post “effectively becoming one position.”
It said those activities were “endangering the safety and security of UNIFIL personnel and premises.”
The Israeli military had asked UNIFIL to withdraw from its posts in 2006, during the last major conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, according to UN sources. It did not withdraw at the time.
Indian troops safe
Sources told News18 that the Indian forces who are part of peacekeeping troops are safe.
They said force protection measures are in place and the forces have been advised to curtail their movement.
India is the second largest troop contributor with 7,676 personnel deployed in 10 out of 16 active UN Peacekeeping Missions.
India has also been the largest troop contributor to UN missions since its inception in the 1950s.
India has sent 195,000 troops for peacekeeping efforts and taken part in over 49 missions.
At least 168 Indian peacekeepers have also laid down their lives while serving in UN missions
Countries condemn Israel
A number of countries have condemned Israel over the incident.
The Guardian quoted Taoiseach Simon Harris as saying such an attack “can never be tolerated or acceptable”.
Irish foreign minister, Micheál Martin called the development “unacceptable”.
“Peacekeeping is the noblest thing anyone can do,” Martin added. “UN peacekeeping soldiers are there to keep the peace at the invitation of both sides to this conflict, and Israel has an obligation to make sure that no UN peacekeeper gets into harm’s way.”
News18 quoted Marsudi as saying that “Indonesia strongly condemns the attack.”
“Attacking UN personnel and property is a major violation of International Humanitarian Law.”
Times of Israel quoted Indonesia’s UN ambassador Hari Prabowo as saying the incident “clearly demonstrates how Israel positioned itself above international law, above impunity and above our shared values of peace.”
As per Al Jazeera, Spain called the incident a “grave violation of international law”.
“The Spanish government strongly condemns the Israeli fire that hit the UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura,” the ministry said.
It added that the security of the peacekeepers is “guaranteed”.
Turkey condemns Israel’s attacks targeting the UN peacekeepers in Lebanon its foreign ministry said late on Thursday, adding Ankara would continue supporting similar peacekeeping initiatives and structures.
Israel’s attacks on UN forces, following its massacres against civilians in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon is a manifestation of its perception that its crimes go unpunished," Turkey’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
“The international community is obliged to ensure that Israel abides by international law,” it said, adding that Turkey contributed to the UNIFIL Maritime Task Force with one corvette and five personnel.
Turkey has been fiercely critical of Israel’s offensives in Gaza and Lebanon. It has halted all trade with Israel, applied to join a genocide case against Israel at the World Court, and repeatedly called for an end to Western support of Israel along with international measures to stop its assaults.
France said it was waiting for explanations from Israel after UN peacekeeping troops were targeted in Lebanon on Thursday and that it was an obligation to ensure their safety.
“France expresses its deep concern following the Israeli shots that hit the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and condemns any attack on the security of UNIFIL,” the foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that none of its 700 troops in the mission had been wounded.
“We await explanations from the Israeli authorities. The protection of peacekeepers is an obligation that applies to all parties to a conflict.”
Israeli forces have acted illegally by shooting at positions used by UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said on Thursday, denouncing it as a possible war crime.
This was not a mistake and not an accident," Crosetto told a news conference. “It could constitute a war crime and represented a very serious violation of international military law,” he said.
Crosetto said he had contacted his Israeli counterpart to protest and had also summonsed the Israeli ambassador to Italy to demand an explanation, which was not yet forthcoming.
Israel has sought to shift the UNIFIL peacekeepers away from the border, but Italy said it had no right to do so.
“I told the ambassador to tell the Israeli government that the United Nations and Italy cannot take orders from the Israeli government,” Crosetto said.
The White House has said it is ‘deeply concerned.’
“We understand Israel is conducting targeted operations near the Blue Line to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure… it is critical that they not threaten UN peacekeepers’ safety and security,” the White House said as per NDTV.
With inputs from agencies
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