Netanyahu tells UN to move Lebanon peacekeepers out of 'harm's way', drawing condemnations
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00:00Meanwhile, amid claims that Israel has targeted the U.N. in Lebanon, Benjamin Netanyahu made
00:05a direct request to the international organization that it withdraw peacekeepers from its positions
00:11in southern Lebanon.
00:12Now that request was met with condemnation from the Lebanese prime minister, who described
00:17it as another chapter in Israel's approach of refusing to comply with international norms.
00:22The Italian prime minister also told her Israeli counterpart that attacks on peacekeepers are
00:27unacceptable.
00:29Let's hear what Netanyahu said.
00:32I would like to appeal directly to the U.N. secretary general.
00:36It is time for you to remove UNIFIL from Hezbollah's trunk holes and from the fighting areas.
00:41The IDF has repeatedly asked for this and has been met with repeated refusals, all aimed
00:46at providing a human shield for Hezbollah's terrorists.
00:49Your refusal to evacuate the UNIFIL soldiers makes them hostages of Hezbollah.
00:54Well on set with me now is France 24's international affairs editor, Ketavan Ghorjasstani.
00:59Hi there, Ketavan.
01:00So what do you make then of the international community's response thus far?
01:04Well, there's been really some major condemnations from really all around the world, especially
01:12those who are involved in that peacekeeping mission, because there are about 50 countries
01:18that are involved in that peacekeeping mission by the blue line.
01:22So you mentioned, for example, the prime minister of Italy.
01:25Italy has a large participation in that peacekeeping mission.
01:30There was a joint statement between France, Italy and Spain expressing outrage, calling
01:37this a serious violation of international law when it comes to the deliberate targeting.
01:44They called this deliberate targeting of those UNIFIL soldiers.
01:49There was also a statement by 40 countries involved in the peacekeeping mission saying
01:56that they urge all parties to respect UNIFIL's presence, which entails the obligation to
02:01guarantee the safety and security of its personnel.
02:05That is interesting because it puts really forward the two main elements of this issue
02:12right now is a, the presence of UNIFIL when we hear Benjamin Netanyahu asking them to
02:18leave that area.
02:21And the other part of that is the security of those peacekeeping members.
02:27And so you saw also the United States President Joe Biden, who said that Israel and asked
02:33Israel to stop targeting those peacekeepers.
02:37And there was a quote from the Taoiseach of Ireland, Simon Harris, who said, we cannot
02:42have a situation where aggression can force a peacekeeping mission to leave.
02:49Obviously referring to the Israelis trying to force the UN peacekeepers out of the way,
02:56basically in that area in Southern Lebanon.
02:59Now there's a major legal question here as well, Ketamon, because this is a UN mandated
03:05mission.
03:06So what are the legal ramifications then of targeting these peacekeepers?
03:10Well, according to several human rights organizations, there are two aspects to what is happening.
03:16One is the violation of that Resolution 1701 that set up really this latest mandate of
03:24the peacekeeping force with some of the basic principles being no foreign forces in Lebanon,
03:32on Lebanese territory without the Lebanese government's consent.
03:36So right now, if you see Israeli military on the ground in Lebanon, that is already
03:43in itself a violation of that resolution.
03:47One of the other basic principles is also that there should be no armed personnel except
03:53for the Lebanese army and the UNIFIL peacekeepers between the Blue Line and the Litany River.
04:01So this is basically the sort of supposedly demilitarized zone that we see here on the
04:07map in light blue at the bottom of the screen.
04:10It's a little bit covered by the strap, but that is where that peacekeeping force is supposed
04:15to be.
04:17And in that sense, both Israel and Hezbollah are violating this Resolution 1701 because
04:23they should not be there, they should not have weapons there.
04:26And so this is the first issue.
04:29The other issue that has been pointed out by several countries around the world is this
04:35intentional targeting of humanitarian and peacekeeping missions that is believed to
04:40be or that is said in the Rome Statute to be a war crime.
04:46The Rome Statute, of course, setting up also the International Criminal Court.
04:50The problem there is that not all countries are signatories or have ratified the Rome
04:56Statute.
04:57And that, of course, includes Israel and the United States, who don't recognize the jurisdiction
05:05of the ICC, for example.
05:07And therefore, you can say that they are violating international law, that they might be committing
05:14war crimes.
05:15But the problem is, where do you take that up and what can be the consequences and what
05:21could be the leverage in order to force the Israelis, for example, to stop targeting UN
05:30peacekeepers if nothing else stops them?
05:34And the same goes, in a sense, with the presence of Hezbollah in that area.
05:40So it is really a sort of very intricate situation that seems to be very easy in the sense that
05:47you do not target peacekeepers, but at the same time, there really is, at least right
05:53now, no concrete way to stop them.
05:56Ketavan Gordishani, thank you very much.
05:58And as we were discussing this just in, UNIFIL says that Israeli military tanks destroyed
06:05the mission's main gate early this morning, forcibly crossing the blue line into Lebanon.
06:10The mission saying that 15 peacekeepers suffered the effects of the firing of several rounds,
06:16including skin irritation.
06:18Those comments stopping short then of saying that they were injured.
06:21They have nonetheless requested an explanation from the Israeli military.
06:26We will be bringing you more on this, of course, as it comes in here on France 24.