Why was the mission founded?
On March 19, 1978, the UN Security Council approved the mandate for the operation. Blue helmets were supposed to monitor the withdrawal of the Israeli army from southern Lebanon. This occupied the area after an attack by the Palestinian organization Fatah. Despite the presence of UN soldiers, there were repeated clashes in the border region. The mandate for the mission has been repeatedly extended over almost five decades. Since the mission began, hundreds of so-called blue helmet soldiers have died.
Which countries are participating?
More than 10,000 UN soldiers from more than 50 countries are involved in the mission, including 300 Bundeswehr soldiers. Many of the UN troops come from Indonesia, Italy and India, among others.
What are the tasks of the mission – and how do the soldiers manage to implement them?
The peacekeeping force is supposed to protect the border between Israel and Lebanon. But in view of the heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, it is increasingly unable to do justice to this task. Recently, patrols in the border area had to be suspended due to the increased danger to UN soldiers. The soldiers retreated to the bases. Some civilian employees of the peacekeeping mission were sent with their relatives further into the interior of the country, where the danger was lower, it was said. The fact that the UN headquarters in Lebanon was also hit by Israeli shelling shows how caught up in the conflict Unifil is.
And the guarding of the maritime borders, which has been part of the mission since 2006 and in which the Unifil troops are supposed to support the Lebanese army in preventing weapons smuggling by sea, is only successful to a limited extent. The observation force is not allowed to intervene in the event of violations, but can only inform the Lebanese army.
One reason why the mission will continue anyway is that Unifil maintains communication between Israel and Lebanon – and also indirectly communicates with Hezbollah via the Lebanese side.
How does Israel view the mission?
Israel would apparently prefer to end the Unifil mission. Irish President Higgins, whose country provides more than 300 UN soldiers, criticized Israel’s army for threatening the peacekeepers and wanting to have them evacuated. Israel is demanding that the entire Unifil mission leave the border area.
A United Nations statement said peacekeeping soldiers remained in all their positions and the UN flag continued to fly. We will continue to help de-escalate the situation in the future.
This message was sent on October 10, 2024 on the Deutschlandfunk program.
