Ireland criticizes Israel’s ‘outrageous’ threats against its peacekeeping forces

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Ireland has rejected Israel’s call for United Nations peacekeepers to withdraw from Lebanon, insisting it will not evacuate them even as Israel steps up its air campaign against the militant group Hizbollah.

Irish President Michael D Higgins has criticized what he called “outrageous” threats to peacekeepers from the Israel Defense Forces “which have sought to have them evacuate villages that they are protecting”. His intervention comes days before the Irish prime minister is set to visit the White House.

Ireland has 347 peacekeepers stationed in southern Lebanon as part of a joint battalion with Polish soldiers. Two of the 25 outposts on the Green Line that effectively divide Lebanon from Israel and the Golan Heights are under Irish command.

Higgins said Israel has asked the entire UNIFIL peacekeeping mission in Lebanon to “withdraw” from the conflict.

James Browne, a junior justice minister for Ireland, said Sunday that the Irish military “is really hurting” and that the president was right to speak out. “The UN has made it clear that it will not comply with the IDF’s request to withdraw troops,” Browne told broadcaster RTÉ.

Captain Kevin Kenny, spokesman for the Irish Defense Forces, said: “We are committed to the mission.

Israel continued Lebanese pound with a wave of intense air strikes overnight, becoming the heaviest bombing in 24 hours since the country stepped up its campaign against Hizbollah late last month.

Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris is expected to discuss the growing conflict with Joe Biden when he meets the US President in Washington this week to celebrate 100 years of US-Ireland diplomatic relations.

UNIFIL spokeswoman Andrea Tenenti said Israel announced its intention to launch ground operations in Lebanon on September 30 and “asked us to relocate from some of our positions.” “Peacekeepers remain in all positions and the United Nations flag continues to fly,” he said.

An Israeli military spokesman said the IDF was in contact with UNIFIL so that they “do not participate in this conflict” and were given warnings to ensure “they are not in danger of a conflict with Hizbollah”.

The Irish military has played a peacekeeping role in Lebanon since 1978 and government and military officials say morale is good.

Captain Kenny said the Irish army was not directly attacked but “from time to time and when appropriate, they hide in protective installations”. [bunkers]”.

“We view our presence there as necessary. We are the eyes and ears of the international community. Our aim is to provide space for diplomacy and deliver humanitarian aid when needed,” he added.

Higgins, in his statement on Saturday, called Israel’s request that Irish peacekeepers leave “an insult” to both the United Nations and the soldiers risking their lives. Irish peacekeeper Private Seán Rooney was killed in an attack on a convoy in Lebanon in December 2022.

Declan Power, a security analyst and former Irish peacekeeper in Lebanon in the 1990s, said Austria withdrew its peacekeepers from the Israel-Syria border in 2013. If any team Whichever army withdraws this time, he said, “someone will have to come and fill the void.”

“But when people talk about evacuating, the safest place to be is in place unless you are a direct target. . . which the UNIFIL team will not be,” Power said.

He described Higgins’ intervention as “futile at best,” saying the military’s vital communications work on the ground was better served “by those on the sidelines. . . don’t get in the way”.