Benjamin Netanyahu
Tel Aviv/New York/New Delhi: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today “appealed” to the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to withdraw the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) from Hezbollah strongholds and the combat zones.
“Mr. Secretary General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm’s way. It should be done right now, immediately,” Netanyahu said, warning that while Israeli forces “regret” the harm to UNIFIL soldiers and doing “our utmost” to prevent such harm, the “simplest and most obvious way” to ensure this is simply to withdraw them from the danger zone.
Netanyahu told Guterres, who is declared by Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz a persona non grata in Israel and banned from entering the country, that the UN Secretary-General’s refusal to evacuate UNIFIL soldiers has turned them into hostages of Hezbollah. “This endangers both them and the lives of our soldiers,” he said.
Appealing “directly” to the UN Secretary-General, Netanyahu said that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) requested this repeatedly and met with repeated refusal, which has the effect of providing Hezbollah terrorists with human shields “just as Hamas in Gaza is using UNRWA [The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East] as a human shield”.
“We are marking one year of the harsh war that was forced on us – the war of redemption against Iran’s axis of evil, which has risen up to destroy us. We are more determined than ever to ensure our future; we are more determined than ever to defeat our enemies,” Netanyahu declared.
UNIFIL has reported incidents that put them at very serious risk. On October 11, 2024, morning, UNIFIL’s Naqoura headquarters were affected by explosions for the second time in the past 48 hours. Two peacekeepers were injured after two explosions occurred close to an observation tower. One injured peacekeeper was taken to a hospital in Tyre, while the second is being treated in Naqoura. Besides, several security walls at the UN position 1-31, near the Blue Line in Labbouneh, fell when an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) caterpillar vehicle hit the perimeter and IDF tanks moved in the proximity of the UN position. UNIFIL underscored that the UN peacekeepers remained at the location, and a UNIFIL Quick Reaction Force was dispatched to assist and reinforce the position.
“We remind you that these peacekeepers are serving in south Lebanon at the request of the Security Council under Resolution 1701 (2006). This is a serious development, and UNIFIL reiterates that the safety and security of UN personnel and property must be guaranteed and that the inviolability of UN premises must be respected at all times. Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and Security Council Resolution 1701,” Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, told journalists on October 11, 2024.
India too, which did not sign a letter of support by 104 nations for Guterres on October 10 in response to the Israeli Foreign Minister declaring the UN Secretary-General persona non grata, stated on October 11 that it was “concerned at the deteriorating security situation along the Blue Line”, and stressed that the inviolability of UN premises must be respected by all, and appropriate measures taken to ensure the safety of UN peacekeepers and the sanctity of their mandate.
Netanyahu told the European leaders that instead of criticizing Israel, what they needed was to direct their criticism at Hezbollah, which is using UNIFIL as a human shield.
Referring to the elimination of Hezbollah chief Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah and his senior personnel, Netanyahu said the Israeli Defense Forces were fighting “forcefully” to return Israel’s residents in the north safely to their homes. “We are not fighting the Lebanese people, we are fighting Iran’s terrorist proxy Hezbollah, which has occupied Lebanon,” he asserted. “Our heroic In Gaza, Netanyahu declared that Israel would continue to operate deep to eliminate Hamas and bring about the release of our hostages. “Our brave soldiers are now in the heart of Jabalya where they are dismantling Hamas’s strongholds,” he said.
He added: “The 101 of our hostages who are in Gaza have always been our chief concern. We will do everything to bring them, all of them, back home, the living and the deceased.”
– global bihari bureau
