As a multi-nation joint statement, also backed by India, strongly condemned the recent Israeli attacks on the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday (October 13) appealed to the UN Secretary General António Guterres to withdraw United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) from the “Hezbollah strongholds” and “get them out of the harms way immediately”.
This comes as a joint statement, initially co-signed by 34 countries, condemned the attack in which at least five UNIFIL peacekeepers were wounded in recent days in the Israeli troops’ offensives in southern Lebanon as part of its campaign against Hezbollah.
What did Netanyahu tell UN?
Prime Minister’s Office of Netanyahu shared a recorded video in which the Israeli PM said, “I would like to appeal directly to the UN Secretary General: The time has come for you to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones.”
Netanyahu said that the Israeli military has requested UN peacekeeping personnel “repeatedly” that has “met with repeated refusal”, “which has the effect of providing Hezbollah terrorists with human shields”.
“Your refusal to evacuate UNIFIL soldiers has turned them into hostages of Hezbollah. This endangers both them and the lives of our soldiers,” he said.
“We regret the harm to UNIFIL soldiers and we are doing our utmost to prevent such harm. But the simplest and most obvious way to ensure this is simply to withdraw them from the danger zone. Mr. Secretary General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm's way. It should be done right now, immediately,” Netanyahu said in the video message.
India on security situation in West Asia
Earlier in a statement in New Delhi on Friday, Ministry of External Affairs said India was "concerned" at the "deteriorating" security situation in parts of West Asia. "Inviolability of UN premises must be respected by all, and appropriate measures taken to ensure the safety of UN peacekeepers and the sanctity of their mandate," the MEA said in its statement.
Initially, 34 nations, including Bangladesh, Brazil, China, France, Italy, Spain, Sri Lanka, and the UK co-signed the joint statement. On Sunday, the Polish mission to the UN announced that India, Colombia, Germany, Greece, Peru and Uruguay have extended support to the statement.
"Poland welcomes the growing support for the @UNIFIL_ peacekeeping mission. Currently, 40 countries have co-signed our joint statement. Thank you, Colombia, Germany, Greece, India, Peru and Uruguay. Also grateful for Switzerland endorsement," the Polish mission posted on X.
As of September 2, 2024, UNIFIL's force consists of a total of 10,058 peacekeepers from 50 troop-contributing countries. India contributes 903 troops to the UNIFIL. "As the countries contributors to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), we reaffirm our full support for UNIFIL's mission and activities, whose principal aim is to bring stabilisation and lasting peace in South Lebanon as well as in the Middle East, in line with relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council," said the joint statement posted on X by the Polish UN mission on Saturday.
It urged the parties of the conflict to respect UNIFIL's presence, which entails the obligation to guarantee the safety and security of its personnel at all times so that they can continue to implement its mandate and continue their work of mediation and support for peace and stability in Lebanon and the entire region. "We reiterate our commitment to multilateral cooperation with the UN at its core. We call for respect for international law, in particular the Charter of the United Nations as well as the relevant resolutions of the Security Council," it said.
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