DUBLIN: Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris has asked Israel to heed the concerns of the world and not repeat recent firing on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.
In a statement, he said that Israel must stop firing on UN peacekeepers serving with UNIFIL in Lebanon.
He said that Israel must listen to the concerns and the voice of the world. The country accounts for about 347 of the 10,000 personnel serving in the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL, which is charged with maintaining peace in southern part of Lebanon.
Israel has also admitted its troops fired at a threat near a UNIFIL position in Lebanon Friday, acknowledging that a “hit” was responsible for injuring two Blue Helmets.
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The UN said that two Sri Lankan peacekeepers were injured at UNIFIL’s main base in Naqura. Recently, two Indonesian soldiers were injured when tank fire hit a watchtower the last day, the UN said. The Irish Defense Forces has stated that none of its staff were injured in Thursday’s incident.
Simon Harris, who visited US President Joe Biden earlier in the week, said that he and Biden agreed that those who serve in the peacekeeping mission on behalf of the United Nations must always be afforded complete protection.
Earlier, Spain, Italy, Russia, France and China have condemned Israeli fire on the United Nations’ peacekeeping force in Lebanon.
UN chief Antonio Guterres, China, Russia, and Italy have similarly denounced Israeli forces for the assaults on the UN peacekeeping units. The UN Secretary General said that these incidents are intolerable. He warned Israel that there must be no repeat of an “intolerable” incident in which its troops fired on peacekeepers in Lebanon, injuring two.
