Netanyahu calls on UN to evacuate peacekeepers from Lebanon

“Mr. secretary-general, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm’s way. It should be done right now, immediately,” Netanyahu said in a video statement issued by his office.

Netanyahu said the military had asked the UN to evacuate the soldiers repeatedly, adding that their presence in the area made them hostages of Hezbollah.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has slammed Netanyahu’s demand for UN chief Antonio Guterres to move UN peacekeepers away from the border.

Beirut “condemns Netanyahu’s position and the Israeli aggression against UNIFIL” peacekeepers, Mikati said.

“The warning that Netanyahu addressed to … Guterres demanding the removal of the UNIFIL represents a new chapter in the enemy’s approach of not complying with international [norms]”, he added.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), is a mission of about 9,500 troops of various nationalities and was created following Israel’s 1978 invasion of Lebanon.

It is currently tasked with monitoring a ceasefire that ended a 33-day war in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah.

Netanyahu’s appeal comes a day after the UN forces in Lebanon refused to withdraw from the border area despite five of its members being wounded in Israeli fire in recent days.

Forty countries whose soldiers serve as United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon say they “strongly condemn” recent attacks on peacekeepers by Israel, in a joint statement released on Saturday.

The statement was posted on X by Poland’s mission to the UN, after the UNIFIL reported a fifth member of the peacekeeping force was injured in southern Lebanon on Friday.

“Such actions must stop immediately and should be adequately investigated,” the statement said, adding: “We urge 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.”

Co-signatories of the statement include the UK, France, India, Germany and Spain.

Since Thursday, UNIFIL reported that two peacekeepers were injured after an Israeli tank fired toward its observation tower in Naqoura, causing it to collapse. On Friday UNIFIL announced two more were hurt after two explosions near the observation tower.

Sri Lanka and Indonesia, whose nationals were among the injured, condemned the incidents.

On Friday a fifth peacekeeper was hit by gunfire at its headquarters in Naqoura due to ongoing military activity nearby, according to a UNIFIL statement released on Saturday.