It added “For years, Hezbollah has embedded itself in southern Lebanon in grave violation of UN Security Council resolutions. The organisation has stockpiled large quantities of weapons aimed at Israeli civilians over the years and has deliberately built up its attack infrastructure near UNIFIL posts.”
The IDF emphasised that its raids target only Hezbollah and not UNIFIL posts, forces or infrastructure, noting that on September 30, before the start of ground operations in Lebanon, IDF representatives had requested that UNIFIL move its personnel away from posts located within five kilometers of the Blue Line between Lebanon and the Golan Heights because this area would become an active combat zone.
However, the UN has refused to move its forces to safer areas, despite a plea from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday. “I want to directly address the UN Secretary-General from here,” he said. “It is time for you to remove UNIFIL from Hezbollah’s strongholds and from the combat areas.”
The IDF, he said, had “repeatedly requested this, only to be met with refusal, a refusal aimed solely at providing Hezbollah terrorists with a human shield. Your refusal to evacuate UNIFIL soldiers turns them into hostages of Hezbollah. This endangers both them and the lives of our soldiers.
“We regret the harm caused to UNIFIL soldiers, and we are doing everything we can to prevent it. But the simplest and most obvious way to ensure their safety is to simply remove them from the danger zone.
Mr. Secretary-General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm’s way. It should be done right now, immediately.”
Some European leaders were “applying pressure in the wrong place,” he contended. “Instead of criticising Israel, they should direct their criticism at Hezbollah, which uses UNIFIL as a human shield, just as Hamas in Gaza uses UNRWA as a human shield. Unfortunately, in Gaza, UNRWA even collaborates with Hamas.”
But UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres remained defiant on Sunday, saying that any attacks on peacekeepers “may constitute a war crime”.
UN spokesperson Stephanie Dujarric said “UNIFIL peacekeepers remain in all positions and the UN flag continues to fly.”
The IDF said it maintained “continuous communication with UNIFIL to avoid, as much as possible, any harm to UNIFIL personnel in the area”.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Sunday that Hezbollah will not be allowed to return to the Lebanese border area even after IDF troops withdraw.
Israeli soldiers entered Southern Lebanon at the end of September, weeks after its Security Cabinet added the safe return of tens of thousands of internally displaced residents to their homes in the north to Israel’s official war goals.
The IDF said on Sunday night forces from its 146th Division havd killed over 100 terrorists to date in targeted raids and ground operations in Southern Lebanon.
Additionally, the division’s forces have located and destroyed dozens of tunnel shafts, terrorist infrastructure and over 50 rocket launchers and over 60 Hezbollah command posts.
