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Candice Ardell, Deputy Spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Peacekeeping Forces in Lebanon, confirmed (UNIFIL), said that their forces were subjected to 40 attacks by the Israeli army, 8 of which they documented on video, and said that a number of the attacks were intentional.
Four UNIFIL members were injured in an Israeli air strike that targeted a car near a Lebanese army checkpoint at the northern entrance to Sidon in the south of the country.
She said in a statement to Al Jazeera that “the Israeli Defense Forces were directly targeting with heavy equipment a number of UNIFIL positions, and shooting at the peacekeeping forces.” She explained that these attacks are disturbing, because the UN force is present in Lebanon to support peace under the terms Resolution 1701 And to assist the concerned parties to implement this decision and enhance security along the Blue Line.
Candace indicated that UNIFIL continues to communicate with the Israeli Defense Forces in order to protest and understand what is happening.
Regarding whether there were Israeli demands to vacate the border points for UNIFIL forces, Candace confirmed that on September 30, the Israeli army asked her to vacate her location near Green lineBut it refused, and it also unanimously decided not to leave its 29 sites near the Green Line, indicating that UNIFIL has a mission and powers in accordance with Resolution 1701.
She stressed that the peacekeeping forces will remain in place, because “they still have an important role in communicating with the parties to reduce escalation and monitoring and reporting on what is happening in the field,” stressing that they have “alternative plans” if things get worse.
Regarding whether UNIFIL had monitored any Israeli attempts to establish a security belt devoid of residents in the Lebanese border villages, the UNIFIL official said that the peacekeeping forces cannot talk about the security strategy, and they must restore security and peace to southern Lebanon, and for the residents on both sides of the country to return. Blue Line to their homes, this requires a negotiated diplomatic solution.
She added that they had seen great destruction to villages near the Blue Line, especially in recent weeks, after the ground incursion carried out by the Israeli Defense Forces into southern Lebanon along the Blue Greens, and considered this a worrying matter for the residents who were forced to leave.
