UN peacekeepers say Israel’s destruction of their property violates international law

The United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon said Friday that the Israeli army’s “deliberate and direct destruction” of its property was a “blatant violation” of international law.

The 10,000-strong UN mission, known as UNIFIL, is based in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the ‘blue line’ that divides Lebanon from Israel.

Since Israel launched a ground campaign across the border against Hezbollah fighters in late September, UNIFIL has repeatedly accused the Israeli forces of deliberately attacking its bases, including by shooting at peacekeepers and destroying watchtowers.

Israel has denied that such incidents are deliberate attacks. Israel says U.N. troops are providing a human shield for Hezbollah fighters and has ordered UNIFIL to evacuate southern Lebanon for their own safety – a request the force has rejected.

In its latest accusation, UNIFIL said the IDF used excavators and a bulldozer on Thursday to destroy part of a fence and a concrete structure at a UN peacekeeping position in southern Lebanon. Peacekeepers had also seen this week as Israeli forces removed a barrel marking the blue line, the report said.

“The IDF’s deliberate and direct destruction of clearly identifiable UNIFIL property is a blatant violation of international law and resolution 1701,” UNIFIL said, referring to a UN resolution calling for a cessation of hostilities in southern Lebanon after an earlier makes war mandatory.

“Yesterday’s incident, like seven other similar incidents, is not a matter of peacekeepers getting caught in the crossfire, but of deliberate and direct actions by the IDF,” UNIFIL said.

It said the UN force would remain in Lebanon “despite the unacceptable pressure placed on the mission”.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

The statement came a day after six Malaysian peacekeepers on a UN bus passing through a checkpoint were injured by an Israeli drone strike that killed three Lebanese in a nearby car.

A series of Israeli attacks rocked Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday evening after Israel issued evacuation orders, according to Reuters witnesses.

The strikes have brought down entire buildings in the densely populated neighborhood that most residents have abandoned in recent weeks.

In addition, the Israeli army said it had established a Hezbollah training center about 200 meters from a UNIFIL base in southern Lebanon, equipped with study materials and large quantities of weapons.

It said the facility it destroyed contained launchers prepared to fire on Israeli communities.

A UNIFIL spokesperson said the Israeli army had not shared any information about an alleged Hezbollah installation.

Israel has accused UNIFIL forces of turning a blind eye as Hezbollah spent more than a decade building a network of tunnels and other infrastructure close to the border with northern Israel, often within sight of their bases.

It says the infrastructure was part of a Hezbollah plan to carry out an attack on Israel along the lines of the October 7, 2023 attack on communities in southern Israel by the Palestinian fighter group Hamas.

The UNIFIL spokesperson said UNIFIL has regularly reported suspicious locations to the Security Council. The UN Security Council has not asked UNIFIL to disarm non-state armed groups, including Hezbollah, the spokesperson said.