Israeli attacks on UNIFIL could constitute a war crime

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has condemned recent Israeli attacks on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, which injured several peacekeepers.

On Sunday, the UN chief’s spokesman quoted Guterres as saying that the Israeli strikes “could constitute a war crime.”

“UNIFIL personnel and its premises must never be attacked,” said Stephane Dujarric, referring to the blue-helmeted international force. “Attacks against peacekeepers violate international law… (and) may constitute a war crime.”

“In a deeply concerning incident that occurred today, the front door of a UN site was deliberately breached [the Israeli military] armored vehicles,” he added in a statement.

Dujarric added that UNIFIL personnel and its premises should never be targeted.

UNIFIL said regime forces had “deliberately” fired shots at their headquarters in the town of Naqoura in recent days.

He called on all parties, including the Israeli military, to refrain from any actions that endanger UN peacekeepers.

At least five peacekeepers have been injured in southern Lebanon in recent days.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called on Guterres to relocate peacekeepers from southern Lebanon.

The UN chief strongly condemns attacks on peacekeepers in southern Lebanon as a violation of international law and a war crime.

Earlier Sunday, 40 countries involved in the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon called for an immediate halt to Israeli attacks on peacekeepers.

“Such actions must stop immediately and should be properly investigated,” the countries said in a joint statement published by the Polish UN mission on X on Sunday.

Contributing nations reiterate their “full support for the mission and activities of UNIFIL, whose main objective is to achieve stabilization and lasting peace in southern Lebanon and the Middle East.”

UNIFIL is tasked with overseeing a ceasefire that ended a 33-day war between Israel and the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah in 2006. It was first established in 1978 as a transitional force to confirm Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon.

Around 9,500 soldiers from around 50 nationalities are currently involved in the mission.