Israel continues to fire against UNIFIL, the UN mission in Lebanon

The Israeli army fired on several bases of Unifil, the UN mission in Lebanon.Tension is growing between the international community and Israel.

• On October 6, several Israeli tanks surrounded a Unifil base in an intimidating manner.
• Between 10 and 11 October the Israeli army opened fire on several UN mission bases.
• The Italian Defense Minister, Guido Crosetto, said that the Israeli crime was a "war crime".

In recent days the Israeli army has begun its own unilateral military offensive againstUnifil, the UN peacekeeping mission that presides over the south of Lebanon.First, some bases of the mission, created in 1978 by the UN Security Council to ensure compliance with the UN Security Council, were surrounded in an intimidating manner. border between Israel and Lebanon and promote peace and stability in the area.Then from October 10th Israeli soldiers directly opened fire on Unifil bases, causing damage and injuries.

The attacks against Unifil in Lebanon, where Israel is doing a new military offensive after the one (still ongoing) in Gaza Strip, led to a diplomatic reaction particularly harsh on the part of the international community.And also the Italian government, which has so far been particularly silent regarding Israel's violations of international law, has taken a stand.

Israel's attacks against UNIFIL

THE'Unifil is a UN military interposition force created in 1978, after the invasion of Lebanon by Israel following some attacks carried out by Palestinian organizations from Lebanese soil.UNIFIL's task was to trace and enforce the border line drawn by the two countries, but over the years its presence has become stable, as peace and security mission aimed at avoiding, even just with its presence, any military escalation between the two countries.

Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli army and the Lebanese political-military organization Hezbollah have launched numerous mutual attacks missiles and rockets, but starting from September Israel launched a real military offensive on Lebanon, bombing much of the country, including the capital Beirut, and carrying out some incursions into the territory.In recent days Unifil has also come under Israeli fire.The October 6 numerous Israeli tanks they unfolded around the UN mission near the village of Maroun al Ras, going so far as to point cannons at the peacekeepers themselves.From the October 10th instead Israel intensified the intimidation, going so far as to open fire.

As complaint a statement fromUnifil, and as the mission spokesperson, the Italian, also confirmed Andrea Tenenti, “Israeli soldiers deliberately fired at the surveillance cameras perimeter of the mission in Naqoura, disabling them.Additionally, the army attacked another UN position, damaging the lighting systems and a transmitting station used for communications.”Furthermore, an Israeli tank fired directly at one observation tower at the Unifil headquarters, "striking it and causing the fall of two peacekeepers", who remained injured.The mission also reported an attack on position a Ras Naqoura, “where the entrance of a was hit bunker where the peacekeepers were taking shelter."

Crosetto's conviction

The international community unanimously raised its voice against the Israeli army after the attacks on Unifil.The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, he defined the actions of the Israeli soldiers were "unacceptable", while the UN secretary general, Antonio Guterres, he spoke of "violation of humanitarian law".

Among the strongest positions was that of the Italian government, since over a thousand of the soldiers of the UN mission in Lebanon are Italian, the second most present nationality after Indonesian.The Minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto, called a press conference in which he underlined that the Israeli attacks on Unifil “constitute a war crime” and that “these are very serious violations of the rules of international law, not justified by any military reason".Crosetto also called theIsraeli ambassador and said he had told him that "the UN and Italy cannot take orders from Israel".

In fact, the Israeli army had asked the UN mission to leave the bases within the radius five kilometers from the border, citing the presence of militiamen as the reason Hezbollah in that territory.The UN peacekeepers did not follow the Israeli order, which concerns territory that Israel does not have sovereignty and which would have also resulted in a violation of the mandate of the United Nations.The Israeli attacks on Unifil could be one retaliation to this refusal and it is likely that the Israeli army wants to clear the area from external observers, so that its violations of international law are not recorded.The Israeli army, however, rejected accusations of this type, saying that it had not deliberately struck UNIFIL positions and that this was a collateral effect of its attacks against Hezbollah.

However, the stance taken by Crosetto and the rest of the international community did not have any effects.On the morning of October 11, the Israeli army he's back to hit the UN mission, destroying the observation point of a base.Two peacekeepers were injured.