The UN peacekeeper force in southern Lebanon, the UNIFIL, issued a statement today rejecting Israeli accusations that they are secretly aiding Hezbollah, saying the claims are unfounded and the organization maintains strict neutrality.
The Israeli military was claiming, on Israeli Army Radio, that the UNIFIL had been leaking “sensitive military data” and intelligence about Israeli operations to Hezbollah, and said they view the organization as a “destabilizing force.”
Officers were claiming the UNIFIL mandate allowed them to get close to Israeli military positions and therefore to collect information about their locations. One official was also quoted as saying the IDF considers it a “barrier” to their military operations in the area.
UNIFIL peacekeepers have been in Lebanon since 1978 | Image from Picryl
That last aspect of the quote is likely the most revealing. Israel has always objected to the peacekeepers in Lebanon, but historically on the grounds that they don’t accomplish anything. Viewing them as a barrier to Israeli attacks suggests that they are accomplishing something, and that’s the real reason Israel is so opposed to them.
The “barrier” of the UNIFIL is clearly limited, however, as since the ceasefire went into effect last year, Israel has carried out an enormous number of attacks on Lebanon, killing hundreds of people. Indeed, the IDF has even attacked the UNIFIL directly on occasion, though they largely claim those incidents were “mistaken identity.”
Israel has been lobbying for years for the dissolution of UNIFIL, and in August over Israeli objections the mandate was extended for a year, but with the US insisting this would be the “last” year of the extension and that the peacekeepers would be dissolved afterwards.
That, along with substantial budget cuts to the UNIFIL, is leading the organization to reduce the number of personnel inside Lebanon. These cuts come just as Israel is escalating attacks on Lebanon and threatening a new war, which will likely suit Israel just fine. It’s one less “barrier” to worry about, after all.
