• By Aditya Jha
  • Sun, 13 Oct 2024 09:20 AM (IST)
  • Source:JND

India has expressed concern over the safety of the UN peacekeepers after an incident of violence near the blue line between Israel and Lebanon. On Saturday, India joined the countries that provide troops in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and criticised the Israeli military's action that injured two of the Vietnamese UN peacekeepers in Lebanon. 

Poland on Saturday released a joint statement from 34 countries that stated that it “strongly condemns recent attacks on the UNIFIL peacekeepers." The statement further said that the attacks on peacekeepers must stop immediately and should be adequately investigated. However, there was no mention of Israel in the statement. 

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The Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations said, "As a major troop contributing country, India aligns itself fully with the joint statement issued by the 34 UNIFIL troop contributing countries. Safety and security of peacekeepers are of paramount importance and must be ensured in accordance with extant UNSC Resolutions."

The Ministry of External Affairs has also emphasised on the safety of the UN peacekeepers in the region. "We are concerned at the deteriorating security situation along the Blue Line. We continue to monitor the situation closely. The inviolability of UN premises must be respected by all, and appropriate measures must be taken to ensure the safety of UN peacekeepers and the sanctity of their mandate," said the MEA.

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Earlier, a few of the UN peacekeepers got injured in an attack from Israeli forces during their operation in Lebanon. The Blue Line was established in the 1970s and has been a zone of tension between the two nations. 

Andrea Tenenti, the spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), clarified that UN peacekeepers have decided to maintain their positions despite the recent acts of violence by the Israeli army. She further claimed that Israel had requested UNIFIL to withdraw from positions "up to five kilometers from the Blue Line." However, the peacekeepers decided not to move, as it would have affected 29 of their positions in the region.