UN chief warns attacks on Lebanon peacekeepers could be a war crime

The UN secretary general has warned that attacks on peacekeepers ‘may constitute a war crime’, after five were left injured by the IDF. General António Guterres reiterated that UNIFIL personnel and its premises ‘must never be targeted’ and attacks on peacekeepers are ‘in breach of international law’.

It comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the UN chief to move peacekeepers deployed in south Lebanon out of ‘harm’s way’, alleging Hezbollah was using them as ‘human shields’.

His call to the UN chief came a day after UNIFIL repeated its refusal to withdraw from the border area after five of its members were wounded in the Israel-Hezbollah war. ‘Mr Secretary General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm’s way. It should be done right now, immediately,’ Netanyahu said in a video statement issued by his office.

Speaking ahead of a cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said Israeli forces had asked UNIFIL several times to leave, saying that the peacekeepers’ presence had ‘the effect of providing Hezbollah terrorists with human shields’. 

‘Your refusal to evacuate the UNIFIL soldiers makes them hostages of Hezbollah. This endangers both them and the lives of our soldiers,’ the premier said. ‘We regret the harm to UNIFIL soldiers and we are doing our utmost to prevent such harm. But the simplest and most obvious way to ensure this is simply to withdraw them from the danger zone.’

UNIFIL has refused to leave its positions in southern Lebanon. ‘There was a unanimous decision to stay because it’s important for the UN flag to still fly high in this region, and to be able to report to the Security Council,’ UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti told AFP in an interview on Saturday.

He said Israel had asked UNIFIL to withdraw from positions ‘up to five kilometres (three miles) from the Blue Line’ separating both countries, but the peacekeepers refused. That would have included its 29 positions in south Lebanon.

Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement yesterday: ‘UNIFIL peacekeepers remain in all positions and the UN flag continues to fly. ‘The Secretary-General reiterates that UNIFIL personnel and its premises must never be targeted.’

He added: ‘Attacks against peacekeepers are in breach of international law, including international humanitarian law. They may constitute a war crime.’

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