Caught in the crossfire of the fierce Israel-Hezbollah war, the movements of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are being restricted and its options are reduced to a trickle.
The blue helmets are mandated to ensure the proper implementation of Resolution 1701, which put an end to the July 2006 war and called for Hezbollah to withdraw beyond the Litani River, in exchange for a halt to Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty. None of the belligerents have honored their part of the deal, which resulted in a great deal of criticism leveled at the peacekeeping force.
In the context of the current war, UNIFIL, which has a front-row seat to, finds itself in a very difficult position. Nevertheless, its commanding officer stressed that the Blue Helmets would carry on their mission in spite of everything, even after the Israeli army requested them to “move some of their positions,” six days ago.
Building on its recent successes against Hezbollah, Israel said it wants to turn the tide, not just in Lebanon but in the Middle East. This ambition, which in its eyes requires conquering part of southern Lebanon — which it has already turned into “scorched earth” — to establish a new status quo.
In parallel, the Israeli army is waging an equally ferocious war of communications, sparing no video to prove its point, which is that Hezbollah turned a large part of Lebanese territory into a huge bunker where it stores its “menacing” arsenal.
After launching a ground incursion into southern Lebanon on Monday, the Israeli army published videos the following day of alleged Hezbollah tunnels discovered and destroyed during the operation. Hezbollah, for its part, insisted that these are old images.
In these videos, as in others released on Saturday, Israeli soldiers were seen advancing into tunnels containing weapons and ammunition, plastic barrels, military clothing, camp beds, a sink and crockery and even food and sweets in a fridge. Other videos show a house in the basement of an alleged Hezbollah tunnel filled with weapons and ammunition.
Discrediting UNIFIL?
Israel alleged that these tunnels were dug by Hezbollah to capture or kill Israeli soldiers or civilians and to seize a fringe of Israeli territory in the event of hostilities.
However, an unnamed diplomatic source said that the videos could be “fake,” especially the videos shot after the Israeli army announced it discovered six tunnels leading into Israeli territory in April 2019.
At the time, UNIFIL Commander General Stefano Del Col told L’Orient-Le Jour that it was “difficult to prove when these tunnels were dug and who dug them.” According to Israel, the tunnels, which were 80 meters deep, “violate Resolution 1701,” and were intended to be used by Hezbollah “to cross from Lebanon into Israel in order to kidnap or assassinate Israeli soldiers or civilians.”
Soon after this discovery, the Israelis blocked the tunnels with cement. Hezbollah prevented UNIFIL soldiers from visiting the site, claiming that it was an encroachment on “private property.”
The latest videos could therefore be a way of saying that underground passages were dug despite the presence of almost 10,000 peacekeepers of various nationalities. It’s a way of discrediting the multinational force, particularly in the eyes of the international community, at a time when Israel seems opposed to a return to the status quo on the border with Lebanon, considering Resolution 1701 as obsolete.
The mission of observation and verification of allegations of the U.N. peacekeepers, often forced to return to shelters amid intensified shelling in recent weeks in particular, is further compromised. “How do you expect UNIFIL soldiers to be able to carry out their daily tasks if they are also asked to evacuate the area?” said the above-mentioned diplomat.
In response to Israel’s request to evacuate some of its positions, informing it “of its intention to carry out limited ground incursions into Lebanon,” UNIFIL decided that “the peacekeepers are maintaining their presence at all sites,” the multinational force’s spokesman, Andrea Tenenti, told L’Orient-Le Jour.
He added that the peacekeepers are regularly “adapting their positions and activities” to the circumstances and will continue to carry out their mission as far as possible until further notice.
“The U.N. flags will continue to fly,” he said. UNIFIL has “contingency plans that are immediately operational in case of need,” he said, recalling that the security of the units on the ground “is paramount, and both warring parties have an obligation to guarantee it.”