Sec. Austin Rebukes Gallant for Firing on UNIFIL, Doesn’t Say What They’re Doing in S. Lebanon

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder on Saturday said that “Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant on Oct. 12 and expressed his deep concern about reports that Israeli forces fired on UN peacekeeping positions in Lebanon as well as by the reported death of two Lebanese soldiers.”

UNIFIL issued a statement on Saturday, saying, “Last night, a peacekeeper at UNIFIL’s headquarters in Naqoura (that’s Rosh HaNikra to you and me, the northern-most point along Israel’s shoreline – DI) was hit by gunfire due to ongoing military activity nearby. He underwent surgery at our Naqoura hospital to remove the bullet and is currently stable. We do not yet know the origin of the fire. Also, last night, buildings in our UN position in Ramyah (a village in south Lebanon) sustained significant damage due to explosions from nearby shelling.”

UNIFIL concluded: “We remind all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and premises, including avoiding combat activities near UNIFIL positions.”

Here’s the thing: the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was assigned by the UN Security Council on August 1, 2006 the mission of applying its Resolution 1701, to “accompany and support the Lebanese armed forces as they deploy throughout the South, including along the Blue Line, as Israel withdraws its armed forces from Lebanon,” and “Assist the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in taking steps toward the establishment between the Blue Line and the Litani River of an area free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the Government of Lebanon and of UNIFIL deployed in this area (by which the SC meant Hezbollah – DI).”

Following 18 years during which UNIFIL failed miserably in carrying out its most basic mission, to push Hezbollah north of the Litani River, and after close to a year during which Hezbollah attacked Israeli civilian towns every day with Iranian-made rockets and drones, the IDF took action and began the slow and harsh work of physically removing the terrorists from their bases, which were often dug under meters of rock bed, but also included homes where rockets and missiles were concealed.

In other words, the IDF is doing what UNIFIL has not done, and that brings into question the current role of UNIFIL in south Lebanon. Are those blue-helmeted soldiers there essentially to serve as human shields for Hezbollah terrorists who fire on Israel and on the advancing IDF forces?

Someone must take pity on those poor lads and put all of them on the deck of one of the US Navy ships President Biden is dispensing so lavishly to the area, seeing as they are worse than useless – they are a mass tragedy waiting to happen.

Secretary Austin “strongly emphasized the importance of ensuring the safety and security of UNIFIL forces and Lebanese Armed Forces and reinforced the need to pivot from military operations in Lebanon to a diplomatic pathway as soon as feasible.”

Yes, love the pivot. Reality suggests that all that’s needed to end the human misery in Lebanon is for Hezbollah to obey UN Security Council Resolution 1559, passed in 2004, calling for the disarmament of all armed militias in Lebanon, as well as their cooperation in allowing the Lebanese State to assert its sovereignty and facilitate a free and functioning political system. All the Christian, Druze, and Sunni militias obeyed and turned in their arms. Hezbollah, the Shiite militia, refused (US & Hezbollah – a Tale of 2 UN Resolutions No One Cared About Before Israel Started Winning).

Secretary Austin also raised “the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and stressed that steps must be taken to address it. The Secretary reaffirmed the United States’ unwavering, enduring, and ironclad commitment to Israel’s security. He acknowledged Yom Kippur and the need to bring back all hostages to their families as soon as possible.”

To be fair, this was better than demanding that the hostages not be brought back to their families but had about the same impact. Instead of permitting Israel to do what it must to eradicate Hamas in Gaza, the US is doing all it can to help Hamas survive this latest round of hostilities because, do not forget, to paraphrase the late great Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley: “The US is not in the Middle East to create disorder, it is there to preserve disorder.”

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