The outgoing deputy commander of the U.N. peacekeeping pressure in Lebanon was injured Friday when protesters attacked a convoy taking peacekeepers to the Beirut airport, the pressure often known as UNIFIL stated in an announcement.
“We’re shocked by this outrageous assault on peacekeepers who’ve been serving to revive safety and stability to south Lebanon throughout a troublesome time,” it stated.
It stated that the deputy commander — Maj. Gen. Chok Bahadur Dhakal from Nepal — had been set to depart the nation after finishing his mission when the UNIFIL convoy “was violently attacked, and a automobile was set on fireplace.”
The Lebanese military intervened to disperse the protesters. The military stated in an announcement that appearing commander Maj. Gen. Hassan Odeh had contacted UNIFIL and promised to “work to arrest the residents who attacked its members and produce them to justice.”
Demonstrators have been blocking the highway to the airport and different roads within the capital to protest a choice by Lebanese authorities to revoke permission for a passenger aircraft from Iran to fly to Beirut on Thursday, leaving dozens of Lebanese passengers stranded.
The choice to ban the Iranian aircraft got here after the Israeli military issued an announcement claiming that Iran was smuggling money to the militant group Hezbollah through civilian flights, main some in Lebanon to allege that their nation’s authorities had caved within the face of a menace from Israel.
Lebanon’s civil aviation company stated Thursday that “extra safety measures” meant some flights had been quickly rescheduled till Feb. 18 — the identical day as a deadline for Israel and Hezbollah to totally implement the ceasefire settlement that ended their newest conflict in late November, together with a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon.
Earlier on Friday, the U.S. consultant on a committee overseeing the ceasefire settlement stated that “important progress” had been made forward of the deadline.
Nonetheless, Maj. Gen. Jasper Jeffers’ assertion appeared to depart some ambiguity on whether or not Israel would withdraw its forces from all of southern Lebanon by Feb. 18, saying solely that he was assured “all inhabitants facilities within the Southern Litani Space” could be again underneath Lebanese management by then.
In areas the place Israeli forces pull out, the Lebanese military and UNIFIL are tasked with guaranteeing Hezbollah doesn’t reestablish a navy presence.
The deadline for Israel and Hezbollah to withdraw was initially set for late January, however Israel and Lebanon agreed to increase it. Lebanese officers say they received’t agree to a different extension and adamantly reject an Israeli proposal to maintain its forces in 5 border factors after leaving different areas.
French Overseas Minister Jean-Noël Barrot stated Thursday that his nation had proposed a beefed-up UNIFIL presence, together with French forces, rather than Israeli troops at these 5 factors. The monitoring committee additionally consists of France, Lebanon, Israel and UNIFIL.
UNIFIL was created to supervise the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel’s 1978 invasion. The U.N. expanded its mission following the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, permitting peacekeepers to deploy alongside the Israeli border to assist the Lebanese navy prolong its authority into the nation’s south for the primary time in a long time.
Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon incessantly accuse the U.N. mission of collusion with Israel, whereas Israel has accused the peacekeepers of turning a blind eye to Hezbollah’s navy actions in southern Lebanon.
In December 2022, an Irish peacekeeper was killed after a mob attacked a UNIFIL convoy that entered a village in southern Lebanon outdoors of the world the place the pressure has a mandate to patrol.
Through the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, UNIFIL additionally alleged that Israeli navy fireplace had focused its amenities and peacekeepers on a number of events, with a number of the strikes being “clearly deliberate.”
