Tensions between Israel and the UN over its peacekeeping operations in southern Lebanon have escalated in recent days – although the confrontations have their roots in years of mistrust and recriminations.
In the latest standoff, the head of UN peacekeeping operations rejected a call on Monday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the forces known as Unifil to pull out of “combat areas”.
The UN force was established in 1978 after the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon, and had its role bolstered in 2006 to monitor and keep the peace there after that year’s war between Israel and Hezbollah.
I’ve filmed with UN peacekeepers patrolling the 120 km (75-mile) “Blue Line” – the UN-recognised boundary that separates Israel and Lebanon – and have seen the dangerous work of demining 5 million square metres of land in southern Lebanon, where Unifil has destroyed more than 51,000 mines and unexploded bombs left over after previous wars.
But Israel accuses Unifil of falling woefully short in one of its other key responsibilities. Under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war, the UN was meant to create an area in southern Lebanon free of armed forces other than those of the Lebanese army.
“The UN is a failed organization and UNIFIL is a useless force that failed to enforce Resolution 1701, failed to prevent Hezbollah from establishing itself in southern Lebanon,” said Israeli cabinet minister Eli Cohen in a recent social media post.
Israel accuses Unifil of having turned a blind eye to Hezbollah’s extensive regrouping and rearming, as the Iranian-backed Shia organisation grew into a formidable fighting force – even bigger than the official Lebanese army. Hezbollah is now proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK, US and other countries.
According to the pro-Israel pressure group, UN Watch, Unifil “did nothing” as “Hezbollah was digging tunnels to invade Israel, kidnap & attack Israeli civilians… and embedding missiles in civilian homes.”
UN Watch and the Israeli Government’s Media office have published several posts in recent days alleging that Hezbollah had been able to operate freely and within clear sight of UN bases and posts along or near the Blue Line.
Tunnels, heavy weaponry and equipment in preparation for attack on Israel have all been discovered after Israeli troops crossed the border into Lebanon.
That, said a belligerent Benjamin Netanyahu, in a video message addressed directly to the UN secretary general this week is why Israel is demanding that Unifil forces withdraw from conflict areas in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli prime minister urged Antonio Guterres not to allow Hezbollah to use UN peacekeepers as “human shields” and said the secretary general’s refusal to evacuate the Unifil soldiers makes them “hostages of Hezbollah… endangering them and the lives of our [Israeli] soldiers”.