Israel faces a wave of indignation from the international community this Friday the 11th, after his forces attacked, for the second consecutive day, UN peacekeepers in Lebanonwhile the Lebanese Prime Minister called for an “immediate” ceasefire between the Israelis and the Islamist movement Hezbollah.
The UN force, Unifil, which is based between Lebanon and Israel, reported on Friday that two Sri Lankan peacekeepers were injured near the border with Israeli territory, after two Indonesian soldiers were injured on Thursday in a attack that generated international condemnation.
The attack on UN forces provoked severe reactions, and on Thursday the White House expressed its “deep concern”; Italy even mentioned the possibility of classifying the incidents as “war crimes”, and this Friday France summoned the Israeli ambassador.
The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterresstated that the incident constitutes “a violation of international humanitarian law”, while Unifil stated that these actions “represent a great risk to peacekeepers”.
The Israeli Army announced it had opened an “in-depth” investigation and said it fired toward a “threat” that was located near the position of UN forces.
Additionally, Lebanon reported the death of two of its soldiers in Israeli bombings in the south of the country.
The incidents come after Israel intensified its military campaign against the Lebanese militia Hezbollahallied with Iran, on September 23, and a week after beginning ground incursions into Lebanon.
Lebanon calls for ‘immediate’ ceasefire
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati asked the UN Security Council on Friday for an “immediate” ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, after Beirut was hit on Thursday by Israeli bombings. lethal situation, which has left 22 people dead since the conflict escalated.
This bombing occurred on the eve of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the most important festival in the Jewish calendar, which coincides with a time when Israel is waging a war against Hezbollah in Lebanon and another in Gaza against the Palestinian Islamist movement. Hamas.
Mikati called for the Lebanese Army and peacekeepers to be the only troops deployed in the south of the country and stated that “Hezbollah agrees”, although the Islamist group has not commented on the matter.
In Lebanon, a country plunged into an institutional and economic crisis, the power and influence of Hezbollah, which is made up of a militia but also a political party with important parliamentary representation, has been consolidated.
‘No safe place?’
Hezbollah opened a front against Israel a year ago to support Hamas, which went to war with the Israelis after the deadly attack by October 7, 2023.
Since then, more than 2,100 people have died in Lebanon, of which 1,200 have lost their lives since the intensification of Israeli bombings on September 23, according to a survey carried out by AFP based on official figures.
The UN has registered around 700,000 internally displaced people in Lebanon due to the violence, and 400,000 people have fled to Syria.
“The head of Hezbollah’s security apparatus, Wafic Safa, was the target” of Thursday’s bombing in Beirut, a source close to the pro-Iranian Islamist movement told AFP, without specifying what happened to the senior official.
The next morning, residents of Basta, one of the most affected areas, returned to their homes.
“Many families live here,” many displaced people from southern Lebanon who have relatives in the neighborhood, said Bilal Othman. “Are you trying to tell us that there is no longer a safe place in this country?”
Anti-aircraft warning in northwest Israel
The United States, Israel’s main ally, seeks to prevent the spread of the conflict throughout the Middle East, at a time when the Israeli government has promised to respond to the missile attack launched by Iran against its territory on October 1.
According to experts, the Gulf countries will not allow Israel to use their airspace to attack Iran.
The conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out after the unprecedented attack by Islamist militiamen on Israeli soil, on October 7, 2023, which caused the death of 1,206 people, most of them civilians, according to a survey by the AFP based on official Israeli figures.
In response, Israel launched a relentless offensive that has killed 42,126 Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. The victims are mostly civilians, according to data from the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian territory, considered reliable by the UN.
Since Sunday, Israeli troops have surrounded and bombarded the town of Jabaliya, in northern Gaza.
According to Gaza Civil Defense spokesman Mahmud Basal, at least 140 people have died since the start of this operation.
After weakening Hamas in its offensive in Gaza, the Israeli Army moved, in mid-September, most of its operations to Lebanon, in order to combat Hezbollah and allow the return of those displaced by violence on its northern border.
A few hours before the start of Yom Kippur, anti-aircraft warning sirens sounded in several locations in northwestern Israel.
