The UN will reject calls by Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu for Unifil forces, including Irish troops, to withdraw from positions in southern Lebanon, according to Irish Government sources.
Diplomats from countries contributing to the peacekeeping force have been advised that Unifil is determined, against the backdrop of a very difficult situation, to continue implementing the mandate given by the UN Security Council.
The Defence Forces confirmed on Sunday afternoon that all Irish peacekeepers are accounted for and well, and that the situation around Irish positions in south Lebanon remains relatively calm.
“This environment has allowed the successful resupply of food and water to UNP 2-45. Clashes between both parties to the conflict persist in both the Irish and wider Unifil area of operations. Irish peacekeepers continue to monitor and report any violations of UNSCR 1701 by all parties involved, maintaining an independent and impartial stance,” the Defence Forces said in a statement.
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But the wider situation remains fraught. Mr Netanyahu made his call on Sunday as Unifil said that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops crossed the Blue Line into Lebanon early Sunday morning and entered a UN position.
It said that Unifil troops suffered smoke-related injuries during one of the incidents at the UN outpost in Ramyah.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin said that “the attacks on Unifil peacekeepers by the IDF we have seen in recent days are completely unacceptable and reprehensible”.
Mr Martin issued one of his sharpest criticisms yet of Israeli actions when he called an Israeli assault on Jabilia in northern Gaza “a war crime”. Gaza’s health ministry said the eight-day-old Israeli incursions in the north have so far killed dozens of Palestinians, with dozens of others feared dead on roads and under rubble of their houses, beyond the reach of medical teams.
“An entire population is being encircled and forced out, with nowhere for them to go. This represents a mass expulsion of people from their homeland. It is a war crime, and the international community must use every lever at its disposal to pressure Israel to stop this war,” the Fianna Fáil leader said.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said: “This deliberate targeting and abuse of civilians must stop. Civilian populations are protected under international humanitarian law. Targeting them shows flagrant disregard for international law and all human rights norms and is a war crime,” he said.
The comments from the two Government leaders come as updated advice from the Attorney General about the Occupied Territories Bill – which would outlaw imports from illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land – is expected to be presented to the Coalition party leaders this evening.
The Attorney General, Rossa Fanning, has re-examined the issue in the light of a ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last July. The Bill was previously blocked as the Government said it contravened EU law, but that position may have changed since the ICJ opinion.
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