With UN peacekeepers under attack, India supports a united statement. India joined the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Saturday and aligned itself against the Israeli military’s action that has wounded two UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, a day after it expressed concern over the worsening security situation along the Israel-Lebanon border.
In a post on X, the Permanent Mission of India to the UN in New York stated: “India fully aligns itself with the joint statement issued by the 34 UNIFIL troop contributing countries as a major troop contributing country.” Ensuring the safety and security of peacekeepers is crucial and needs to be done in compliance with current UNSC Resolutions.
According to Israel’s military, two UN peacekeepers from Sri Lanka were hurt in an Israeli strike on Friday near their watchtower in Naqoura, south Lebanon. As Israeli forces fought Hezbollah, explosions rocked the peacekeepers’ main post nearby for the second time in 48 hours.The UNIFIL force described it as a “serious development” and insisted that the safety of UN assets and troops had to be ensured.According to a joint statement from the nations providing troops, the attacks on UNIFIL forces were “strongly condemned,” and “such actions must stop immediately” and “should be adequately investigated.”
An hour and a half later, at 8.35 pm IST, the Indian statement “aligning” itself with the statement was released, although the statement from the 34 nations that provide troops had been released at 7:01 pm IST.
In addition to supporting Israel’s activities against Hamas and Hezbollah during the past year, particularly in the last few months, India is also upset about Israel’s targeting of UN soldiers, which is a completely different stance from its balancing act.
India voiced its concerns over the “deteriorating” security situation on Friday in response to news that UN forces were caught up in the escalating conflict in southern Lebanon.
The worsening security conditions along the Blue Line worry us. We are keeping a careful eye on the situation, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated.
Defence Ministry Reply to Peacekeeper scenario
Reuven Azar, Israel’s ambassador to India, defended Israel’s military actions on Friday, claiming that Hezbollah was firing at Israel near UNIFIL installations and was using the peacekeepers as cover. “Hizbollah in Lebanon is firing at Israel when UNIFIL outposts are nearby, illegally exploiting them as a shield. Israel will keep taking the required precautions to protect UN forces and will work with all relevant parties to coordinate these actions,” he stated in a post on X.
According to the MEA, “everyone must respect the inviolability of UN premises and take appropriate measures to ensure the safety of UN peacekeepers and the sanctity of their mandate.”
“Recent escalation along the Blue Line is causing widespread destruction of towns and villages in south Lebanon,” the UNIFIL stated on October 10.”We have witnessed Israeli raids into Lebanon in Naqoura and other regions in recent days. Soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) engaged Hizbullah elements in combat in Lebanon, the organization declared in a statement.
The Palestinian militant organization Hamas attacked Israel with unprecedented ferocity. Over 1,200 people were killed and hundreds more were taken prisoner as a result of the assault’s scope and ferocity, which reignited unrest in the area and ignited a full-scale conflict.
Although the attack was unexpected and startling to the world at large, freshly discovered records indicate that it was planned out years in advance and may have been carried out even sooner, possibly initiating strikes similar to the ones that hit the World Trade Center in the United States on September 11, 2001.
International media publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The New York Times have reported that Hamas had originally scheduled the October 7 attack for the previous year
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