UNITED NATIONS — The UN Security Council expressed “strong concern” on Monday. Israel has shot at and injured UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon during heavy fighting, and reiterates its support for their role in supporting security in the region.
It is the first statement from the UN’s most powerful body since then Israel’s attacks on peacekeeping force positions known as UNIFIL began last week and drew international condemnation.
UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Lacroix told reporters that Secretary-General António Guterres confirmed on Monday peacekeepers will remain in all their positions even as Israel has urged peacekeepers to move five kilometers north during its ground invasion of Lebanon.
Israel has been his campaign against Hezbollah escalates in Lebanon across a UN-drawn border between the two countries. The sides have clashed since the Iran-backed militant group began firing rockets in solidarity with its ally Hamas in Gaza a year ago. Deadly Hamas attacks in southern Israel on October 7, 2023 launched the war.
The Security Council statement, issued after emergency consultations on Lebanon, did not mention Israel, Lebanon or Hezbollah. Read by Swiss UN Ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl, the current chairman of the council, it urged all parties to “respect the safety and security of UNIFIL personnel and UN buildings.”
The 15-member Security Council is deeply divided over the war in Gaza, with the United States defending its ally Israel while support for the Palestinians has grown among members and casualties have escalated. The Biden administration has also become more critical of civilian deaths the recent attacks on UNIFIL.
US. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood told reporters that “it is good that the council can speak with one voice about what is currently in the minds of all people around the world – and that is the situation in Lebanon.”
The council’s statement sends a message to the Lebanese people “that the council is concerned, that the council is monitoring this issue and that the council has spoken with one voice today,” Wood said.
Council members also expressed “deep concern” over civilian casualties and suffering, the destruction of civilian infrastructure and the rising number of internally displaced persons.
More than 1,400 people in Lebanon, including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million displaced in the past month. About 60 Israelis have been killed in Hezbollah attacks in the past year. Israel says it wants to drive the militant group from the border so that some 60,000 displaced Israelis can return to their homes.
The Security Council statement called on all parties to comply with international humanitarian law, which requires the protection of civilians.
Council members also called for the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701which ended the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah war “and recognized the need for further practical measures to achieve that outcome.”
That resolution calls for the disarmament of the Lebanese army in the entire south and for the disarmament of all armed groups, including Hezbollah – which has not happened in the past eighteen years.
Lacroix, the undersecretary general for peacekeeping operations, told reporters after his private briefing to the Security Council that five UNIFIL peacekeepers have been injured in recent days and that the UN has protested to Israel.
Israel has indicated that “investigations will be conducted into some of these incidents… and we will see what comes of this,” he said.
Israeli Army spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani claimed on Sunday that Israel has tried to maintain constant contact with UNIFIL and that any case of harm to UN forces will be investigated at “the highest level.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called on UNIFIL to heed Israel’s warnings to evacuate, accusing them of providing Hezbollah “a human shield.”
“We regret the injury to the UNIFIL soldiers and we are doing everything we can to prevent this injury. But the simple and obvious way to guarantee this is to simply get them out of harm’s way,” he said in a video addressed to the UN Secretary General on Sunday. who have been denied entry into Israel.
Lacroix emphasized Monday that all parties have a responsibility to ensure the safety and security of peacekeepers.
He also said it is important that peacekeepers remain in their positions “as we all hope that there will be a return to the negotiating table, and that a real effort will finally be made to fully implement Resolution 1701.”