Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemned as “completely unacceptable” a series of Israeli raids that have injured United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.
“The 27 EU members agreed on asking Israelis to prevent attacking UNIFIL,” Borrell told reporters ahead of a summit of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Luxembourg. “It’s completely unacceptable to attack United Nations troops,” he stated. “Many European members are partaking in this mission,” Borrell stated. “Their work is very important.”
How have recent Israeli raids affected un peacekeepers?
At least five peacekeepers have been injured in recent days as Israel targets Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. UNIFIL, a mission of approximately 9,500 troops of various nationalities formed following Israel’s 1978 invasion of Lebanon, has blamed the Israeli military for “deliberately” firing on its positions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on UN chief Antonio Guterres to push peacekeepers deployed in south Lebanon out of “harm’s way”, saying Hezbollah was employing them as “human shields”. UNIFIL has refused to leave its position.
How has Hezbollah reacted to Israeli aggression?
Hezbollah has been reacting to the aggression with numerous retaliatory functions, including one with a hypersonic ballistic missile, targeting the occupied Palestinian territories. Since late September, Israel has increased its strikes against Hezbollah, extinguishing its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and a number of its senior figures.
At least 2,306 people have been slain by Israeli fire, and more than 10,698 others injured since the clashes began last year, according to the health ministry. The Lebanese resistance movement has promised to keep up its operations against Israel as long as the Israeli government continues its Gaza war, which has so far annihilated at least 42,227 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
