The Irish presidency on Saturday described as “scandalous” the Israeli request to “relocate” part of the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL), deployed along the border between Israel and Lebanon, which has 347 Irish soldiers.
“It is scandalous that the Israeli Defense Forces have threatened this peacekeeping force and sought to force it to evacuate the villages it is defending. In fact, Israel is demanding that the entire UNIFIL, which operates under a UN mandate, leave,” denounced Irish President Michael Higgins in a statement.
“This is not only an insult to the most important global institution to which 193 members are attached, but also an insult to the soldiers and their families who took risks so that we could all live in peace and protect the most vulnerable,” he continues.
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Earlier on Saturday, UNIFIL announced that the Israeli army requested on September 30 “the withdrawal of peacekeepers from some of their positions”, informing it “of its intention to carry out limited ground incursions into Lebanon”. UNIFIL rejected this request.
In total, 347 Irish soldiers are part of this UN force which includes some 10,000 peacekeepers. All are deployed in southern Lebanon to monitor the maintenance of peace in the region.
Fighting between Hezbollah and Israel has intensified since the start of ground incursions by Israeli soldiers into southern Lebanon earlier this week.
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