Two Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tanks forcefully entered a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) base in Ramyah, near the Israel-Lebanon border on Sunday morning, according to a statement from UNIFIL. The incident occurred while peacekeepers were in shelters; two IDF Merkava tanks destroyed the position’s main gate and forcibly entered the position.
The IDF claims that the tanks accidentally backed into the base while evacuating two wounded Israeli soldiers, following which a smokescreen was fired to aid their escape. However, UNIFIL stated that the tanks left about 45 minutes later after UNIFIL protested through its liaison mechanism, saying that IDF presence was putting peacekeepers in danger.
Following Sunday’s incident at Ramyah, UNIFIL reminded Israel that “breaching and entering a UN position is a further flagrant violation of international law and Security Council resolution 1701.” This resolution, which ended the 2006 Lebanon War, stipulates that only UNIFIL troops and the regular Lebanese military are allowed to operate between the blue line and the Litani River.
UNIFIL was formed in 1978 to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli forces to below the so-called ‘blue line’, which separates Lebanon from Israel and the occupied Golan Heights. Headquartered in the town of Naqoura, UNIFIL is currently composed of around 10,000 troops from around 50 countries, who are tasked with ensuring that neither Israel nor Hezbollah maintain a military presence between the blue line and the Litani River.
In recent weeks, IDF troops entered southern Lebanon in a dramatic escalation of Israel’s war against the Lebanese paramilitary group, Hezbollah. UNIFIL has accused the IDF of repeatedly firing on its bases and outposts. Five peacekeepers have been wounded, four of them by Israeli fire, according to recent statements from the UN mission.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to withdraw UNIFIL troops from southern Lebanon in a video message posted on social media on Sunday, accusing them of “providing a human shield to Hezbollah terrorists.” Netanyahu added that the UN troops’ lives would be “endangered” if they refuse to evacuate.