‘A Few Dozen Meters’: Hezbollah Fires Rockets From Near UNIFIL Positions

Jerusalem, 14 October, 2024 (TPS) -- Hezbollah has launched 25 rockets and missiles at Israeli forces and communities from locations near United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) posts in southern Lebanon over the past month, the Israel Defense Forces said on Sunday night. The announcement followed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for the peacekeepers to be evacuated.

According to the army, soldiers of the 146th Division located hundreds of weapons, including firearms, grenades, and rocket launchers aimed at Israeli territory in underground compounds “located from a few dozen meters up to a few hundred meters from UNIFIL posts situated near the Blue Line.”

The army also hit back at UNIFIL claims that it was targeting the peacekeepers. Five peacekeepers have been injured in recent days, and on Sunday, UNIFIL accused Israeli soldiers of destroying the main gate of its base in Ramyah. The IDF said it previously warned UNIFIL to evacuate the peacekeepers for their safety.

“The IDF’s targeted raids are only directed against Hezbollah, and the troops’ activities are not directed at UNIFIL posts, forces, or infrastructure. On Thursday, September 30th, prior to the start of the operation, IDF representatives submitted a request to the organization to move its personnel away from posts located within five kilometers of the Blue Line, as this area would become an active combat zone,” the army said.

Earlier on Sunday, Netanyahu called on United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres to withdraw the UNIFIL contingent, which is made up 10,500 soldiers from 50 countries.

“I would like to appeal directly to the UN Secretary General: it is time for you to remove UNIFIL from Hezbollah’s strongholds and from the fighting areas. The IDF has repeatedly asked for this, and has been met with repeated refusals, all aimed at providing a human shield to Hezbollah terrorists,” said Netanyahu.

“Your refusal to evacuate the UNIFIL soldiers makes them hostages of Hezbollah. This endangers both them and the lives of our soldiers. We regret the injury to the UNIFIL soldiers and we are doing everything in our power to prevent this injury. But the simple and obvious way to ensure this is simply to get them out of the danger zone. Mr. Secretary General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm’s way. It should be done right now, immediately.”

UNIFIL was established in 1978 to confirm Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon. The “Blue Line” demarcating the 120 km-long Israeli-Lebanese border was created in 2000 by UN cartographers to verify Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon, which the UN Security Council later certified as complete. The border runs from Rosh HaNikra on the Mediterranean coast to Mount Dov, where the Israeli-Lebanese border converges with Syria.

According to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War, the terror group is forbidden from operating in southern Lebanon south of the Litani River.

After the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, the Iran-backed Hezbollah began firing rockets and launching drones at northern Israel communities daily. According to figures released by the government on Sept. 29, more than 68,000 residents of northern Israel are displaced from their homes. Hezbollah leaders have repeatedly said they would continue the attacks to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes.

Israeli officials have been critical of the peacekeepers for failing to stop Hezbollah, which has fired thousands of rockets at Israel since October 7.

Sarit Zahavi, president and founder of the Alma Research Center, told The Press Service of Israel in August that Hezbollah doctrine makes extensive use of civilian homes in southern Lebanon, where many more weapons, including ballistic missiles, are kept.

“Hezbollah stores their weapons everywhere, both between villages and within the villages themselves,” she said.

“By and large, every third house in the Shi’ite villages of south Lebanon is used in some way by Hezbollah for military purposes, be it weapons storage, the entrance of a tunnel, or a launchpad for shooting rockets at Israel,” she explained.