UNIFIL vehicles on patrol along the southern border near Khiam, August 30, 2022. (Credit: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
BEIRUT — Lebanon's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdallah Bou Habib, received on Wednesday the chief of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) in Lebanon, Major General Patrick Gauchat to urge the issuing of the report on the Majdal Shams incident in which 12 children were killed.
On July 27, a strike on Majdal Shams in the Israel-occupied Syrian Golan Heights killed 12 children in the village. Israel attributed this strike to Hezbollah, which the latter strongly denied.
Bou Habib urged the UN to "issue a report on the Majdal Shams incident to clarify the truth and withdraw the pretext of the right to self-defense that Israel relied on to launch its attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut on July 30, 2024."
Condemnation of strike that injured UNIFIL forces
Bou Habib also emphasized "the need for the United Nations and its Truce Supervision Mission to play their assigned role," and strongly condemned the recent Israeli strike that injured UNIFIL forces in southern Lebanon.
On Sunday, three U.N. peacekeepers were slightly injured when an "explosion" occurred near their "clearly marked U.N. vehicle" during a patrol around Yarine, in Sour district, southern Lebanon.
Earlier on Sunday L'Orient Today's correspondent in the south, Mountasser Abdallah, had reported that Israeli warplanes attacked a house in the locality of Dahyra, a village neighboring Yarine. A municipal police officer indicated that "a member of the Ghanaian unit was injured."
Since Oct. 8, 2023, Hezbollah and Israel have primarily been clashing along the southern Lebanese border with Israel, following Hamas' assault on Israel on Oct. 7.
'Monitoring the border' between Lebanon and Israel
For his part, Major General Gauchat warned of "the danger of escalation on the border between Lebanon and Israel," assuring that "the UNTSO is playing its role and monitoring the border from both sides."
On March 30, three UN military observers and an assistant were injured during a foot patrol along the Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel following an "explosion" nearby. The UNTSO helps the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to fulfill its mandate.
According to their website, the UNTSO Military Observers remain in the Middle East to monitor ceasefires, supervise armistice agreements, prevent isolated incidents from escalating and assist other United Nations peacekeeping operations in the region.
Their headquarters is located in Jerusalem while its liaison offices are in Beirut, Cairo, Egypt and Damascus, Syria.
The UNTSO Liaison Offices engage regularly with national officers to review stability and security trends as well as with troop-contributing countries, international representatives, and regional UN organizations.