UNIFIL: Israel's destruction of its property breaches law

The United Nations' peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon has said that the Israeli military's "deliberate and direct destruction" of its property is a "flagrant violation" of international law.

The 10,000-strong UN mission, known as UNIFIL, is stationed in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the 'blue line' separating Lebanon from Israel.

It includes 340 Irish personnel.

Since Israel launched a ground campaign in Lebanon against Hezbollah fighters at the end of September, UNIFIL has accused the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on several occasions of deliberately attacking its bases, including by shooting at peacekeepers and destroying watchtowers.

Israel has denied such incidents are deliberate attacks.

It said that UN troops provide a human shield for Hezbollah fighters and has told UNIFIL to evacuate from southern Lebanon for its own safety - a request that the force has rejected.

In its latest accusation, UNIFIL said the IDF used excavators and a bulldozer to destroy part of a fence and concrete structure at a peacekeeping position in southern Lebanon yesterday.

Peacekeepers, it said, also observed Israeli troops this week removing a barrel that marks the 'blue line'.

"The IDF's deliberate and direct destruction of clearly identifiable UNIFIL property is a flagrant violation of international law and resolution 1701," UNIFIL said, referring to a UN resolution that mandates a cessation of hostilities in southern Lebanon after a previous war.

"Yesterday's incident, like seven other similar incidents, is not a matter of peacekeepers getting caught in the crossfire, but of deliberate and direct actions by the IDF," UNIFIL said.

The UN force, it added, would remain in Lebanon "despite the unacceptable pressures being exerted on the mission".

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

The statement came a day after six Malaysian peacekeepers on a UN bus that was crossing through a checkpoint were wounded by an Israeli drone strike that killed three Lebanese people in a nearby car.

Separately, the Israeli military said it had located a Hezbollah training centre about 200m from a UNIFIL base in southern Lebanon, equipped with study materials and large quantities of weapons.

It said the facility, which it destroyed, contained launchers prepared for firing at Israeli communities.

A UNIFIL spokesperson said the Israeli military had not shared any information about an alleged Hezbollah installation.

Israel has accused UNIFIL forces of turning a blind eye as Hezbollah built up a network of tunnels and other infrastructure close to the border with northern Israel for more than a decade, often within sight of its bases.

The infrastructure, Israel said, was part of a Hezbollah plan to carry out an attack on the country along the lines of the 7 October 2023 assault on communities in southern Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas.

A UNIFIL spokesperson said the force has regularly reported suspicious locations to the UN Security Council.

The council has not asked UNIFIL to disarm any non-state armed groups, including Hezbollah, the spokesperson said.