the essential
Without filter, the column of Mémona Hintermann, great reporter, former member of the Superior Audiovisual Council. Today, the difficult situation of UNIFIL in Lebanon.
To say that at the beginning of the 20th centurye century, it was possible to travel by train from Beirut to Jerusalem! It is difficult to completely forget this past in the Ottoman Empire when we consider the Lebanon-Israel neighborhood. In places, the border was still marked by a simple fence until the previous conflict in 2006.
That summer, on July 12 when the war broke out, a Franco-Israeli woman living in the Galilee summed up for our reporting team a feeling of anger and contempt shared in the surrounding Israeli villages. “But what are they doing there? They’re useless except helping terrorists, that’s all! “. “They” were the soldiers of a UNIFIL patrol circulating far away, on the other side of the border, in southern Lebanon.
It was after this 2006 war that the United Nations clarified the role of peacekeepers on this famous blue line separating the belligerents. They had to report to the international community the facts and gestures hindering peace between these very angry neighbors. As experienced witnesses their duty was to prevent escalation.
It is obviously the opposite that happened, Hezbollah concreted its sanctuary, constantly harassed the Israelis, and the reflection of the Franco-Israeli became an opinion widely shared well beyond the Galilee.
Result: for two weeks, UNIFIL and its more than 10,000 military personnel and a handful of civilians have found themselves targeted “deliberately” according to the UN by the Israeli army. The facts have been added to the shootings over the past fortnight.
Gate smashed by a Merkava combat tank on the Ramyah base, watchtower damaged in Naqoura at the headquarters of the international system, cameras destroyed, obstacle to the movement of patrols, 15 soldiers in UN uniform injured… A tension like rarely since the creation of the interposition force in 1978.
The UN is alarmed, all members of the Security Council affirm support and courage for the peacekeepers, Israel calls the world to witness by showing that Hezbollah is sheltering behind UNIFIL positions to dig a tunnel.
Word against word, accusation against accusation… Benjamin Netanyahu said out loud what diplomats and soldiers have understood – for a while – about the will of the Hebrew State: “UNIFIL must leave”. Yes, but not so simple corrects France, among others. Our approximately 550 men and women participating in the force supposed to interpose between the enemies have at least the advantage of serving as witnesses.
Isn’t this precisely what bothers the Israeli government? There aren’t many witnesses in the other war zone, Gaza. For Lebanese civilians, it still matters a little to still see flying this shy blue and white flag which has promised hope for generations now… A hope flickering over the bombardments which push them to flee. Not tomorrow the day before they come back.
Hassan Nasrallah and Yahya Sinouar may have been removed from the scene, but the end of the two wars requires an exit plan. From this – essential – perspective, if we want to avoid a new war, it is quite unlikely that Israeli strategists would really want to integrate the UN into their thoughts about remodeling the Near and Middle East. If UNIFIL remains, one may wonder about the credit attached to its future mission in the dangerous and terribly complicated Orient.
