UNIFIL Peacekeepers Wounded In Lebanon
The incursion of the Israeli Defense Forces into Lebanon, which commenced on the night of 30 September, has seen a significant number of Israeli troops cross the border and a large number of tactical airstrikes conducted. This has now resulted in the wounding of United Nations peacekeepers operating in the region. UNIFIL confirmed on Friday, 11 October, that at least three peacekeepers had been wounded at Naqoura.
The UNIFIL mission began in 1978 and is a United Nations effort to maintain peace in Southern Lebanon, under the UN Security Council resolutions S/RES/425 and S/RES/426. However, the UNIFIL mission failed to prevent the outbreak of further local conflict, despite the increase of the mission’s personnel and mandate by the Security Council.
Since the beginning of direct hostilities between the IDF and Hezbollah’s forces in Southern Lebanon, the UNIFIL peacekeepers have been constantly at risk from fire from both sides, including collateral and direct threats. Several positions manned by the UN’s “Blue Helmets” have been attacked with small arms fire or sabotaged by crippling communication lines and observation systems.
As of April 2024, the UNIFIL forces have been composed of soldiers from Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Ghana, Spain, France, China, Ireland, Nepal, Poland, and Italy, totaling over 10,000 mission participants out of whom 9,500 are active duty military personnel.
According to UNIFIL’s statement, the two soldiers wounded in the Naqoura attack have been hospitalized and treated. A third wounded soldier from Naqoura, hit by unknown gunfire, has undergone surgery and remains under medical supervision. It is unknown whether any other casualties were sustained by the peacekeepers, who remain in their outposts and bases. Follow Israeli demands that UN peacekeepers withdraw from the area the UN stated that on 13 October, “the entrance door of a UN position was deliberately breached by IDF armored vehicles”. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected accusations that Israeli had targeted UN personnel, instead suggesting the “temporarily get out of harm’s way.”
The UNIFIL personnel near the border have found themselves virtually trapped by the combat operations of the IDF against Hezbollah in the region. In a statement published on 13 October, United Nations General Secretary Antonio Guterres praised UNIFIL personnel and noted that “UNIFIL is committed to preserving its capacity to support a diplomatic solution based on resolution 1701, which is the only possible way forward.” Secretary Guterres took the opportunity to renew calls for “on all parties, including the IDF, to refrain from any and all actions that put our peacekeepers at risk.” The situation, however, remains difficult as the threat of regional escalation continues.