This Saturday of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the highest Jewish religious celebration, the shots and cannon fire in southern Lebanon fired by Israeli troops continue to escalate in what Europeans consider a “horrible” scenario.
With the injured man this Saturday, There are five blue helmets from the UNIFIL contingent of the United Nations admitted to hospitalsin recent days, which has a strong European presence among its ten thousand soldiers.
The common declaration of Italy, France and Spain is reinforced to denounce in a unanimous chorus, “outraged”, the repeated attacks by Israel on the United Nations troops that have had the mission for years of separating the contenders in the area where the Israelis seek to displace the forces of Hezbollah, the Muslim movement allied to Iran, from southern Lebanon.
It has been reached a limit point. The rulers Giorgia Meloni, Emmanuel Macron and Pedro Sánchez are already almost shouting that Israel stop attacking enemy troops without taking into account the United Nations peacekeepers.
“Very soon the conflict could become regional with catastrophic consequences for everyone,” said UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti.
The Spanish government, which currently commands the ten thousand peacekeepers of the United Nations, goes further. Calls on the European Union to review the association agreements with Israel.
Italy, France and Spain expressed “condemnation” and “indignation” for what is happening with the attacks on the blue helmets. They stressed that these actions “constitute a serious violation of Israel’s obligations.”
The Israeli army admitted to firing near the peacekeepers’ base in Naqoura, in an incident in which two Indonesian peacekeepers were wounded, but accused Hezbollah of “operating” near the peacekeeping mission’s posts. the UN. On Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday there were attacks and three other injuries, two of them Indonesians.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that Italy expects Israel to provide accurate information to know if there was “a political or military decision on the ground” on its part.
The Italian contingent of UN forces is 1,200 soldiers. “What has happened is unacceptable,” said Tajani, who explained that he had spoken with the president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, “because they had confirmed to us that our soldiers would not be attacked.”
Diplomatic tension
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni “formally” protested before the Israeli authorities, and Defense Minister Guido Crosetto last Thursday he summoned the Israeli ambassador in Rome, Jonathan Peled.
The growing fear is that an Israeli attack will cause fatalities, unleashing a scandal that will destabilize Italy, France and Spain and unleash a wave of protests in the squares and streets.
Meloni, Macron and Sánchez reminded the Israelis of their status as “nations that have long contributed to Finul and are partners of Lebanon and Israel.” They signed a statement saying: “These attacks constitute a serious violation of Israel’s obligations under the United Nations resolution and international humanitarian law.” The attacks “must end immediately.”
Italy, France and Spain demand “a total cessation of hostilities between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, their replacement by Lebanese and Finul forces, and the disarmament of the armed groups.”
It should be noted that in the 24 hours of Friday, 60 people died and another 124 were injured in Lebanon, where 57 air attacks and bombings were recorded in the last year, especially in Beirut and the Bekaa Valley. The dead total 2,229 and the injured reach 10,380.
The Secretary General of the United Nations, the Portuguese Antonio Guterres, stated that the Israeli attacks against the UN peacekeepers “are a violation of international humanitarian law.” Guterres had been declared by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “persona non grata” in Israel.
Undersecretary Jean Pierre Lacroix said the situation in southern Lebanon is “increasingly alarming for the safety of blue helmets, in increasing danger.” The Israeli invasion in Operation “Northen Arrows” has forced “the peacekeepers to be confined to their bases with periods in bunkers, which represents a serious obstacle to the mission’s freedom of movement.”
Italy guides the western sector where 3,600 men from 17 of the almost fifty countries that participate in the peace mission operate, with the participation of ten thousand soldiers from the UN force. Some 800 civilian members are added who have had to be transferred to safe places, increasing the problems. The Italians operate with 374 ground vehicles and half a dozen airplanes.
The Italian Defense Minister said that “we are in Lebanon and we will remain there. We will not move because someone believes that force will force us to move. There we will remain with the force of the mandate of the United Nations.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, criticized in Europe for being a strong arms seller to Israel, declared himself “horrified” by the news of deliberate attacks by Israeli forces against the United Nations contingent.
The Israeli army ordered this Saturday to evacuate 22 towns in southern Lebanon to fight against the Hezbollah militia and ordered the civilian population to move north of the Awali River, 60 kilometers away from the Lebanese border with Israel.