Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin denounced on Friday “the alleged attack by Israeli forces which left two UN peacekeepers wounded” and charged that Israel was becoming “increasingly hostile to UN troops.”
In parallel, Irish Prime Minister, Simon Harris, had expressed his “deep concern” at the reports but Martin went further describing the incident as “a quite shocking extraordinary development.”
“The Israeli army's animosity towards UN forces and positions has significantly increased,” he continued, emphasizing that “what happened over the last 48 hours is completely unacceptable.”
Additionally, Martin urged the international community to “really put down a marker to Israel that this is unacceptable behavior,” while speaking to media in southwest Ireland.
It is noteworthy that of the 10,000 personnel in the UNIFIL forces, tasked with preserving calm in the southern part of Lebanon, 347 are from Ireland.
In a related development France’s Quai d’Orsay, or Foreign Ministry, said it had summoned Israel’s ambassador to France following the fresh offensive by the Israeli army on UNIFIL.
The Ministry declared in a statement that “these attacks constitute serious violations of international law and must cease immediately.”
It further stated, “the Israeli ambassador to France is being called to the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs today in order for the Israeli authorities to provide an explanation.”
Two Blue Helmets were injured on Thursday by Israeli fire at UNIFIL's headquarters in southern Lebanon, according to the UN peacekeeping organization in the country.
On Friday, UNIFIL also declared that two other peacekeepers were injured after two explosions close to their observation tower.
France contributes some 700 troops to UNIFIL.
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