Ya’alon extends condolences after Spanish UN peacekeeper dies

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon extended his condolences to the Spanish government on Thursday, after a Spanish UNIFIL peacekeeper was killed in an IDF counter-strike on positions in southern Lebanon on Wednesday following a Hezbollah border attack that killed two IDF soldiers and injured seven others.

In a statement on Facebook on Friday, Ya’alon said he spoke with Spanish Defense Minister Pedro Morones to express his sympathies to Madrid and the family of Lance Corporal Francisco Javier Soria Toledo

“On behalf of myself and the people of Israel, I would like to extend my condolences to the soldier Francisco Javier Soria Toledo, first and foremost to his family who lost a loved one,” Ya’alon wrote.

The defense minister then blamed the terrorist group for sparking the exchange of fire, while promising the IDF would probe the incident. “Hezbollah initiated and carried out terrorist attacks on our forces using anti-tank missiles,” Ya’alon wrote. “Our soldiers returned fire, and a position that was between the two sides and occupied by Francisco, was hit. We are investigating the case and the barrage that killed Francisco, and we will cooperate with UNIFIL and Spanish officers to get a clear answer on the circumstances of the incident,” he said, adding that the results of the investigation will be shared with Madrid as soon as possible.

“I greatly appreciate the presence of Spanish soldiers in the field as part of the UNIFIL force, and the Spanish government’s effort to bring stability to the region,” concluded the defense minister.

Spain’s ambassador to the United Nations blamed Israel on Wednesday night for the death of the peacekeeper, accusing Jerusalem of provoking tensions.

“It was because of this escalation of violence, and it came from the Israeli side,” Spanish Ambassador Roman Oyarzun Marchesi told reporters.

Hezbollah took responsibility for the attack and said it was in retaliation for an alleged helicopter strike on a Hezbollah convoy on January 18 that killed 12 people, including some of the group’s foremost commanders, five Iranian soldiers and a retired Iranian general.

Israel, maintaining a policy of ambiguity, has not confirmed it was behind that strike, but Israeli officials have said Hezbollah was building a terrorist hierarchy in the area, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Iran was ultimately to blame.

The 10,000-strong United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon mission said it had observed six rockets fired towards Israel from southern Lebanon and that during the Wednesday attack Israeli forces “returned artillery fire in the same general area.”

Senior peacekeeping official Edmond Mulet told council members that the attacks were a “serious violation” of ceasefire agreements and that UNIFIL had launched an investigation, according to a diplomat present at the council meeting.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations warned in a letter that Israel was ready to take all necessary measures to defend itself and demanded that the council condemn Hezbollah.

“Israel will not stand by as Hezbollah targets Israelis,” wrote Ron Prosor in a letter to the council also sent to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Avi Lewis, the AP and AFP contributed to this report.