New Delhi: India joined a statement from troop-contributing countries condemning recent attacks on UNIFIL peacekeepers in Lebanon, as a fifth peacekeeper was injured on Saturday.
On Saturday (Oct 12), Poland released a joint statement from 34 countries troop contributing countries of UNIFIL who have sent troops which said that it “strongly condemn recent attacks on the UNIFIL peacekeepers”.
The statement said that the actions “must stop immediately and should be adequately investigated”. It doesn’t name Israel in the statement.
https://x.com/PLinUN/status/1845094985403695454
Though India was not initially listed as a co-signatory, the Indian permanent mission at the UN put out a tweet that India had “fully aligned itself with the statement”. “Safety and security of peacekeepers are of paramount importance and must be ensured in accordance with extant UNSC Resolutions,” it added.
Later on Saturday evening, in a fresh tweet, the Polish mission said support for the statement was growing and thanked India, Germany, Greece, Colombia and Uruguay for joining.
The joint statement urged “the parties of the conflict to respect UNIFIL’s presence, which entails the obligation to guarantee the safety and security of its personnel at all times, so that they can continue to implement its mandate and continue their work of mediation and support for peace and stability in Lebanon and the entire region”.
“We reiterate our commitment to multilateral cooperation with the UN at its core. We call for respect for the international law, in particular the Charter of the United Nations as well as the relevant resolutions of the Security Council,” it said.
The statement also said that the countries reaffirmed their “full support for UNIFIL’s mission and activities, whose principal aim is to bring stabilisation and lasting peace in South Lebanon as well as in the Middle East, in line with relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council”. “We consider UNIFIL’s role as particularly crucial in light of the escalating situation in the region,” it said.
The UN peacekeeping mission currently consists of 10,058 peacekeepers from 50 countries, with Indonesia contributing the largest number of troops, followed by Italy and India.
A day earlier, India expressed concern about the “deteriorating security situation along the Blue Line.” Without specifically naming Israel, India emphasized that “the inviolability of UN premises must be respected by all, and appropriate measures taken to ensure the safety of UN peacekeepers and the sanctity of their mandate.”
India’s statement on Friday was more restrained compared to those from countries like Indonesia and Italy, which had condemned Israeli actions and called for accountability.
India, pointedly, refrained from naming or blaming Israel for the attack – something all major troop contributing nations had done.
On October 1, Israel began a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, claiming it was targeting Hezbollah’s infrastructure in the area.
On October 6, UNIFIL expressed concern over Israeli Defense Forces’ activities near its positions. Four days later, two Indonesian peacekeepers were injured when an Israeli tank fired at the mission’s headquarters observation tower, according to the UN.
On Friday, two more peacekeepers were injured by an explosion near an observation tower. Later that evening, on October 11, a peacekeeper at the headquarters was injured by gunfire, though the source of the shots was unclear.
