Unlock Editor’s Digest for free
FT editor Roula Khalaf has chosen her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Ireland rejects Israeli demand for UN peacekeepers to withdraw from Lebanon and has no intention of withdrawing UN peacekeepers even as Israel steps up air operations against the militant group Hezbollah he claimed.
Irish President Michael D. Higgins denounced what he called “outrageous” threats against Israeli Defense Force peacekeepers, saying they were “trying to evacuate the villages they protect”. His intervention came just days before the Irish Prime Minister was scheduled to visit the White House.
Ireland has 347 peacekeepers stationed in southern Lebanon as part of a joint battalion with Polish forces. Two of the 25 outposts on the Blue Line and Golan Heights, which effectively separate Lebanon and Israel, are under Irish command.
Mr Higgins said Israel had called on the entire UNIFIL peacekeeping mission in Lebanon to “withdraw” from the conflict.
Ireland’s deputy justice minister, James Brown, said on Sunday that the president was right to speak out because the Irish military was “in real danger”. “The United Nations has made it clear that it will not comply with the Israeli Defense Forces’ request to withdraw,” Brown told broadcaster RTÉ.
Irish Defense Forces spokesman Colonel Kevin Kenny said: “We are fully committed to our mission.”
Israel continued to pound Lebanon with heavy airstrikes throughout the night, the heaviest 24-hour bombardment since stepping up attacks against Hezbollah late last month.
Irish leader Simon Harris is expected to discuss the growing conflict when he meets President Joe Biden in Washington this week to mark the 100th anniversary of US-Ireland diplomatic relations.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said Israel notified them of its intention to launch ground operations in Lebanon on September 30 and “requested them to relocate from some positions.” “Peacekeepers remain in all positions and the UN flag continues to fly,” he said.
in Statement after Sunday The UN agency said it was “deeply concerned” by recent IDF operations in close proximity to Irish positions.
“This is an extremely dangerous development,” UNIFIL said. “It is unacceptable to compromise the security of United Nations peacekeeping forces carrying out their Security Council-mandated mission.”
An Israeli military spokesperson said the Israel Defense Forces are in contact with UNIFIL and that they are “not taking part in this conflict” and have been warned “to avoid any danger in the event of a conflict with Hezbollah.” He said that
Irish troops have been operating as peacekeepers in Lebanon since 1978, and government and military officials insist their morale is good.
Captain Kenny said that although Irish troops were not under direct fire, they “occasionally take cover in protective structures where appropriate.” [bunkers]”.
“We believe our presence there is essential. We are the eyes and ears of the international community. Our aim is to provide space for diplomacy to take place and provide humanitarian aid where necessary. to provide,” he added.
In a statement on Saturday, Mr Higgins described Israel’s demand that Irish peacekeepers leave a “disgrace” to both the United Nations and the soldiers who are putting their lives at risk. Private Sean Rooney of the Irish Peacekeeping Force was killed in an attack on a convoy in Lebanon in December 2022.
Declan Power, a security analyst and former Irish peacekeeper who served in Lebanon in the 1990s, said Austria withdrew its peacekeepers from the Israeli-Syrian border in 2013. If any troops were to withdraw this time, “someone would have to come in and fight,” he said. Please fill in the gaps. ”
“But when people talk about evacuation, unless you are a direct target, the safest place to be is to stay on scene. . . . The UNIFIL contingent will not be,” Power said.
He said Higgins’ intervention was “useless at best” and that the military’s vital liaison work on the ground “would have been better served in a bystander role”. . . Stay out of the way. ”
