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 VN-vredesmacht gevangen in kruisvuur infographic
Graphic shows facts and figures about UNIFIL, as well as recent incidents.
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CONFLICT

VN tart oproep Israël om zich terug te trekken uit Zuid-Libanon

By Jordi Bou

October 15, 2024 - Israel’s attacks on UN soldiers in Lebanon have drawn international condemnation, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling the accusations that Israel deliberately attacked UNIFIL “completely false”.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was established to patrol the country’s southern frontier after Israel invaded in 1978.

The force currently has around 10,000 peacekeepers in southern Lebanon drawn from around 50 countries.

The UN’s top decision-making body, the security council, has since renewed and expanded its mandate repeatedly, notably during Israel’s 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon between 1982 and 2000.

UNIFIL’s role was further updated at the end of the 2006 war with Hezbollah. Resolution 1701 allowed peacekeepers to help the Lebanese army keep the area of operations free of weapons or armed personnel other than those of the Lebanese state.

But Israel accuses UNIFIL of having turned a blind eye to Hezbollah’s extensive regrouping and rearming. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded that UNIFIL forces withdraw from conflict areas in southern Lebanon.

That has been met with a firm “No”. “Peacekeepers continue to do their best to implement their Security Council mandate in obviously very difficult conditions,” UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix has said.

As the war between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, UNIFIL is increasingly in the crosshairs, with Israeli troops firing at the peacekeepers’ headquarters and positions several times in the past week.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 16/10/2024; STORY: Graphic News
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