Ireland fumes at Israel for telling UN peacekeepers to leave posts in south Lebanon

By AFP 5 October 2024, 8:35 pm

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An Irish soldier from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), stands guard at the entrance of his base in the southern Lebanese village of al-Tiri on December 16 2022, two days after a fellow Irish soldier was killed in the region. (Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)

Illustrative: An Irish soldier from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), stands guard at the entrance of his base in the southern Lebanese village of al-Tiri on December 16 2022. (Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)

DUBLIN — The president of Ireland sharply criticizes Israel’s demand that UN peacekeepers leave their positions in southern Lebanon.

“It is outrageous that the Israel Defense Forces have threatened this peacekeeping force and sought to have them evacuate the villages they are defending,” President Michael Higgins says in a statement.

“Indeed, Israel is demanding that the entire UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) operating under UN mandates walk away.”

Ireland accounts for 347 of the 10,000 soldiers serving in the UNIFIL forces, which are charged with maintaining peace in the south of Lebanon.

Earlier today, UNIFIL said it had rejected Israeli demands that it “relocate” some positions ahead of Israeli ground operations against Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.

Higgins calls the demand “an insult to the most important global institution.”