Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called on the UN chief to move peacekeepers deployed in southern Lebanon out of "harm's way."
Netanyahu's appeal to UN chief Antonio Guterres comes a day after the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, refused to withdraw from the border area despite five of its members being wounded in Israeli fire in recent days.
"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, in what were his first comments on the issue.
Netanyahu, speaking at a cabinet meeting, said Israeli forces had asked UNIFIL several times to leave but it was "met with repeated refusals" that provided a "human shield to Hezbollah terrorists."
"Your refusal to evacuate the UNIFIL soldiers makes them hostages of Hezbollah. This endangers both them and the lives of our soldiers," Netanyahu said.
"We regret the injuring of UNIFIL soldiers and we are doing everything in our power to prevent this injuring. But the simple and obvious way to ensure their safety is simply to get them out of the danger zone."
"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.
Tenenti 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 Lebanon's south.
Forty nations that contribute to the peacekeeping force in Lebanon said on Saturday that they "strongly condemn recent attacks" on the peacekeepers.
"Such actions must stop immediately and should be adequately investigated," said a joint statement, posted on X by the Polish UN mission and signed by nations including leading contributors Indonesia, Italy and India.
With AFP
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