JERUSALEM – Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, on Sunday accused the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) of failing to fulfill its mission to prevent the US-designated Hezbollah terrorist movement from establishing posts military on the border with Israel.
Israel's incursion into southern Lebanon has revealed a military outpost just 300 meters north of the border with the Jewish state that is filled with explosives and mines, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
“Hezbollah terrorists are using UNIFIL outposts as hideouts and ambush sites. “The UN’s insistence on keeping UNIFIL soldiers in the line of fire is incomprehensible,” Danon said.
HEZBOLLAH IS A BIGGER CHALLENGE THAN HAMAS FOR ISRAEL: 'CROWN JEWEL IN THE IRANIAN EMPIRE OF TERROR'
An IDF infographic showing what it claims are Hezbollah launches toward Israel from locations near UNIFIL posts. (IDF Spokesperson Unit)
He added that “for 18 years, UNIFIL personnel ignored Hezbollah bases along the border and did not report any violations of Resolution 1701, which states that only the Lebanese army can operate in the area.”
Danon went on to say that “While the IDF is working against the terrorist organization Hezbollah, we request that UNIFIL forces move five kilometers (approximately 3.1 miles) north of the border to stay out of the line of fire. Unfortunately, at this time, this request has not been accepted.”
The United States and other world powers passed Resolution 1701 in the United Nations Security Council in 2006 to help the Lebanese Armed Forces assume military management of the region, replacing Hezbollah, between the Litani River and the southern border. from Lebanon. The goal of UNIFIL's 2006 mandate was to prevent a third war between Israel and the US-designated terrorist organization Hezbollah. Israel fought Hezbollah in 1982 and in the summer of 2006.
Hezbollah's decision to join Hamas' war against Israel a day after the Sunni terrorist movement Hamas invaded Israel on October 7 revealed to Israeli war planners and counterterrorism experts that UNIFIL had failed in its mission.
Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon speaks to the media before the United Nations Security Council meeting, following a ballistic missile attack on Israel, at UN headquarters in New York City on October 2, 2024. (REUTERS/Stephani Spindel)
Hamas massacred nearly 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7, including more than 30 Americans. A deadly Hezbollah drone strike on Sunday killed four IDF soldiers and wounded nearly 60 Israelis.
The massive increase in Hezbollah's military presence on Israel's northern border since the 2006 war has caused the Israeli government to reexamine the clear and present danger from the Iran-backed Shiite terrorist movement following Hamas's invasion of Israel's southern border. on October 7.
ISRAEL DEGRADES IRAN-BACKED HEZBOLLAH TERRORISTS IN SPECTACULAR PAGER BLASTING OPERATION: EXPERTS
The Palestinian flag and the Hezbollah flag fly in the wind on a pole as peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon patrol the border area between Lebanon and Israel on Hamames Hill in the Khiyam area in the southern Lebanon on October 13, 2023. (Photo by JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Photographs)
The IDF said in a statement that “Over the past month, approximately 25 rockets and missiles were launched at Israeli communities and IDF troops from Hezbollah terrorist compounds embedded near UNIFIL posts in southern Lebanon, exploiting their proximity to UN forces. One of the attacks “resulted in the death of two IDF soldiers. “Hezbollah uses compounds located above and below ground to carry out terrorist attacks against the State of Israel.”
A Hezbollah weapons cache located near a UNIFIL post by IDF troops in southern Lebanon.
UNIFIL issued a statement on Sunday, announcing: “Early this morning, peacekeepers at a UN position in Ramyah observed three platoons of IDF soldiers crossing the Blue Line into Lebanon. At around 4:30 am, while the peacekeepers were in shelters, two IDF Merkava tanks destroyed the main gate of the position and forcibly entered the position. They requested several times that the base turn off the lights. The tanks left about 45 minutes after UNIFIL protested through our liaison mechanism, saying that the IDF presence was endangering the peacekeepers.
UNIFIL added that “peacekeepers in the same position reported firing several rounds 100 meters to the north, emitting smoke. Despite wearing protective masks, fifteen peacekeepers suffered effects, including skin irritation and gastrointestinal reactions, after smoke entered the camp. The peacekeepers are receiving treatment.”
A UNIFIL patrol passes the wreckage of a car that was the target of an Israeli strike early on March 2, 2024, near the town of Naqoura, southern Lebanon. (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Photographs)
Danon said: “The details of the incident involving UNIFIL soldiers in southern Lebanon are currently being investigated. In the coming days, we will continue to promote a dialogue on this issue with relevant parties at the UN.”
When Fox Information Digital approached UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti for comment on Danon's criticism, Tenenti did not immediately respond.
Over the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on UNIFIL to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon because they are being used as “human shields” to advance Hezbollah's war machine, backed by the Iranian regime. .
IRAN TRIED TO INFLUENCE THE ELECTION BY SENDING MATERIAL STOLEN FROM THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN TO THE BIDEN CAMP, FBI SAYS
An Israeli soldier walks through a tunnel entrance near a United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon observation post in the southern Lebanon village of Naqoura, along the border with Israel. (Photo by Ilia Yefimovich/Image Alliance via Getty Photographs)
Speaking in Hebrew, Netanyahu told UN Secretary General António Guterres, “it is time for you to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and combat zones.”
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the general secretary, said: “In the context of the ongoing hostilities in southern Lebanon and despite the attacks that have hit United Nations positions, wounding several blue helmets in recent days, the helmets UNIFIL blues remain in all positions and the UN flag continues to fly.”
Dujarric added that “the Secretary General reiterates that the security of UN personnel and property must be guaranteed and that the inviolability of UN facilities must be respected at all times without reservation. In a deeply worrying incident that occurred today, the entry gate “UN position was deliberately breached by IDF armored vehicles.”
Hezbollah fighters form a human barrier during the funeral procession of slain top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in the southern suburbs of Beirut on August 1, 2024. (Photo by KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Photographs)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The UN chief called on “all parties, including the IDF, to refrain from any action that puts our peacekeepers at risk.” The Normal Secretary takes the opportunity to reiterate the call for the cessation of hostilities and the full implementation of UN security standards. Council Resolution 1701.”
Guterres did not mention that the Hezbollah tunnels discovered by the IDF were located just 300 feet away from a UNIFIL peacekeeping observation post, as well as the presence of other Hezbollah military facilities in an area that the UNSC 1701 was to be free of Hezbollah explosives and weapons. Hezbollah's elaborate tunnels were found west of the Lebanese village of Labbouneh.
The United Nations Security Council will discuss the situation in Lebanon again later on Monday.