The deputy leader of the Irish government, Tánaiste Micheál Martin, has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of undermining the United Nations.
Martin’s comments came in response to Netanyahu’s call for UN peacekeepers, part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), to withdraw from areas in southern Lebanon.
Irish Defence Force peacekeepers have been deployed in Lebanon since 1978, with over 30,000 troops serving in the region during that time. Most Irish peacekeepers are stationed at Camp Shamrock.
Netanyahu ‘needs to step back’
In recent days, Irish troops have refused to vacate their position near the border with Lebanon, despite orders from Israel.
The Tánaiste is currently attending a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
The Fianna Fáil party leader said that the Israeli prime minister ”is essentially now undermining the United Nations and the United Nations peacekeeping force, and the very rules-based international order, and he needs to step back”.
“The international community needs to be very clear, and my colleagues at the European Council need to be very clear about the primacy of the international rules-based order,” Martin added.
“The United Nations is at the heart of that, and United Nations peacekeepers are at the heart of that.”
‘Drive the eyes and ears out of Lebanon’
The UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon reported that Israeli tanks forced their way into one of its positions early Sunday morning.
They stated that rounds were fired nearby, causing smoke to enter the camp and resulting in skin irritations and gastrointestinal reactions for 15 peacekeepers.
In contrast, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) provided a different account, claiming they had encroached on a UNIFIL position to evacuate soldiers who had been wounded by an anti-tank missile.
Before the incidents on Sunday, five peacekeepers had already been injured in recent days, although no Irish troops were harmed.
Following international criticism about attacks on Unifl personnel and bases, Mr Netanyahu said in a video message yesterday evening: “We regret the harm to Unifl soldiers and we are doing our utmost to prevent such harm.”
“But the simplest and most obvious way to ensure this is simply to withdraw them from the danger zone.”
Martin accused Israel of attempting to “drive the eyes and ears out of south Lebanon and to give itself free rein” by attacking Unifl peacekeeping positions.
“We cannot have an undermining and a chipping away of the status or the credibility or structures of the United Nations and particularly its peacekeeping forces,” he said.
Martin referred to IDF attacks in northern Gaza, including hitting a school sheltering displaced people and called for an EU or international team to be allowed into Gaza to monitor what was happening.
“What’s happening in the most recent days in northern Gaza is quite shocking in terms of the mass expulsion of people…and the death and destruction of innocent people,” he said.
“That is not acceptable or morally tolerable anymore. Quite a number of our EU member states really need to stand up now on the side of what’s right and proper and moral in terms of humanity.
“I’m surprised that some EU colleague states have not been as forceful or as strong in supporting UN peacekeeping troops as they could be.
“The statement we’ve issued is welcome, but I think the statement the EU is issuing on this matter could be far stronger.”
During a phone call on Monday with Israeli President Isaac, Taoiseach Simon Harris expressed the “paramount” importance of the security of Irish peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.
An Irish government statement said Harris made it clear that the “deliberate firing” at UNIFIL posts is an “unacceptable breach of international law”.
“UNIFIL serves on behalf of the international community, with a clear mandate from the Security Council, and that it must be allowed to carry out its functions unimpeded,” he added.
Harris has called for an immediate ceasefire which will allow people to return to their homes.