Middle East: Netanyahu calls for UN soldiers to be withdrawn from combat zone in Lebanon

Netanyahu calls for Unifil soldiers to be withdrawn from combat zones in Lebanon

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for the immediate withdrawal of the UN observer mission Unifil from the combat zone in southern Lebanon. During the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Netanyahu addressed this demand directly to UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

“It is time to withdraw Unifil from Hezbollah strongholds and combat zones,” Netanyahu said, according to his office. He accused Guterres of refusing to do so and thereby turning the Unifil soldiers into “hostages of Hezbollah.” Israel regrets it if Unifil soldiers are injured, said Netanyahu, referring to incidents in which blue helmet soldiers were recently injured.

Unifil’s task is to monitor compliance with the ceasefire following the 2006 Lebanon War. This force, with more than 10,000 UN soldiers involved, does not have a robust mandate. She also couldn’t prevent the new escalation.

Israel’s army and Hezbollah continue to fire at each other

While Israel’s political leadership is considering a retaliatory strike after Iran’s rocket attack, the army is continuing to fight against Tehran’s allies in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. After the end of the highest Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur, the military announced in the evening that it had killed dozens of fighters from Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza in the past few hours. A total of 280 targets were attacked during the holiday.

Meanwhile, the Hezbollah militia continues to shell northern Israel. The sirens wailed again at night in the north of the Jewish state. The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported in the evening that more than a dozen people were killed and dozens injured in Israeli attacks in the country. The information could not initially be independently verified.

According to reports there, Israel’s military is said to have attacked, among other things, a market in the south of the neighboring country. Israeli warplanes attacked the market in the center of the town of Nabatiya, the Lebanese state news agency NNA reported. Israel’s army did not initially comment. Videos circulating on social media appear to show destruction after the attack.

After shelling of blue helmets: Israel promises USA protection for Unifil soldiers

After several peacekeepers from the Unifil peacekeeping mission in Lebanon were injured by fire during combat operations, Israel announced that it would continue to protect the UN soldiers. Defense Minister Joav Gallant stressed that despite the “operational challenge” posed by Hezbollah’s presence near Unifil positions, the armed forces “will continue to take measures to prevent harm to Unifil troops and peacekeepers in southern Lebanon,” Israel said Defense Department on Sunday after talks between Gallant and his US counterpart Lloyd Austin.

The UN peacekeeping mission had accused the Israeli army of “deliberately” shelling its positions in the southern Lebanese town of Nakura, where the Unifil headquarters is located, in recent days. The incidents were strongly condemned internationally. 40 countries subsequently pledged their “unrestricted” support to the UN peacekeeping force.

On Saturday, Unifil announced that a fifth UN soldier had been injured by shelling of “unknown origin”. The blue helmet soldier was “hit by shots” in Nakura on Friday evening “because military activities were taking place nearby,” Unifil said. The origin of the shelling is “not yet known.” The condition of the injured peacekeeper is “stable”.

It was the third time in two days that a Unifil soldier was injured as a result of the fighting. Just on Friday, a similar incident triggered sharp international criticism of Israel’s actions in the fight against Hezbollah. The Israeli army announced “a thorough investigation at the highest command level.”

Iran bans radios on flights

Following the apparently coordinated explosions of thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon, Iranian authorities have banned all passengers from carrying such radios on flights. The new order applies to both hand luggage and checked suitcases, a spokesman for the Iranian aviation authority said, according to the Isna news agency. Passengers are only allowed to take their cell phones on board.

In September, numerous pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to the Iranian-allied Hezbollah militia exploded. At least 39 people were killed and around 3,000 were injured, some seriously. The victims were mostly Hezbollah members. The Islamic Republic of Iran is Hezbollah’s closest ally in the fight against arch-enemy Israel. Both blamed the Israeli secret service Mossad for the pager attacks.

After the Iranian rocket attack on Israel on October 1st, there are fears in Tehran that a similar Mossad operation could also be carried out against Iran. Israel threatened “deadly and precise” retaliation after the attack with around 200 rockets.

Israel’s army: Dozens of projectiles again from Lebanon

Israel’s military said late in the evening that around 40 projectiles had been fired again in several volleys from Lebanon. Some of them were intercepted, the rest fell in open areas. Hezbollah previously fired around 320 rockets and drones at Israel on the Yom Kippur holiday. Here too, most of them were intercepted by air defense and the rest fell into open areas. This information also could not be independently verified. Near the city of Acre, two Israelis suffered minor injuries from bullet fragments, Israeli media reported.

Israel’s army has significantly stepped up its fight against the Hezbollah militia since September. This includes massive airstrikes and a ground offensive in Lebanon. Over the past day, troops have “eliminated” 50 terrorists in close combat and with air strikes in “precise” operations in southern Lebanon, the army said. Underground tunnels, weapons depots, rocket launchers, mortars and anti-tank missiles were discovered. The air force also bombed an underground weapons depot on the Lebanese-Syrian border.

Israel’s army continues to advance in Gaza

At the same time, Israeli troops continued their operations throughout the Gaza Strip. Dozens of terrorists were killed, the military said. In the Jabalia area in the north of the sealed-off coastal area, more than 20 terrorists were “eliminated” during the day by tank fire, close-range gunfire and air strikes. It was said that around 200 terrorists had been “eliminated” since the ongoing operations in this area began. A number of terrorists were also killed in the central section of Gaza and in the Rafah area in the south.

According to the Pentagon, in the conversation with his Israeli colleague Galant, US Defense Secretary Austin once again pointed out the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the devastated Gaza Strip, which urgently needs to be improved. At the same time, Austin reaffirmed the United States’ “steadfast, enduring and ironclad commitment” to Israel’s security. The USA is the Jewish state’s most important ally.