Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged the United Nations chief, Antonio Guterres, to move peacekeepers deployed in south Lebanon out of harm’s way.
Netanyahu alleged Hezbollah is using the peacekeepers as human shields.
This appeal is coming a day after the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon refused to withdraw from the border area despite five of its members being injured amid recent fighting.
Netanyahu in a video statement issued by his office, in his first comments on the issue, said, “Mr Secretary General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm’s way. It should be done right now, immediately.”
Speaking ahead of a cabinet meeting, he said Israeli forces had asked UNIFIL several times to leave but it had 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.
“We regret the harm to UNIFIL soldiers and we are doing our utmost to prevent such harm. But the simplest and most obvious way to ensure this is simply to withdraw them from the danger zone,” he added.
Move Lebanon peacekeepers out of harm’s way – Netanyahu tells UN