Netanyahu calls on UN peacekeepers to withdraw immediately from Lebanon as fighting intensifies

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on UN peacekeepers to heed Israeli military warnings to withdraw immediately from Lebanon as fighting escalates Working on the ground in Israel.

The Israeli army fired several times in the areas there first responders and UN peacekeepers they have been there since the start of ground operations against Hezbollah. The military has accused the Iran-backed militant group of using ambulances to transport troops and weapons and says Hezbollah is working closely with peacekeepers, without providing evidence.

On Sunday, the Lebanese Red Cross said paramedics were searching for the injured in a building destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon when a second strike left four paramedics stranded and two ambulances damaged.

It said the rescue mission was coordinated with the UN troops, told the Israeli side. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Jagan Chapagain, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) called for rescuers to be protected.

“We said it before and today we say it again: the symbol of the Red Cross must be respected under International Humanitarian Law,” he said in a statement shared on X.

In recent days, Israeli strikes have injured five peacekeepers.

In a video directed at UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who is barred from entering Israel, Netanyahu called on peacekeepers to heed Israel’s warnings to leave, accusing them of “giving a human shield” to Hezbollah.

“We are sorry for the injuries of UNIFIL soldiers and we are doing everything we can to prevent these injuries. But the easiest and most obvious way to ensure this is to simply get them out of the danger zone,” he said.

He added: “Mr. Secretary-General, get the UNIFIL troops out of harm’s way. It must be done now, immediately.”

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has refused to leave its positions in southern Lebanon.

“There was a unanimous decision to stay because it is important for the UN flag to remain high in this region, and to be able to report to the Security Council,” UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told AFP in an interview on Saturday.

Drone strikes cause dozens of casualties in central Israel

The rescue service in Israel said that around 40 people were injured in a drone strike in the center of the city of Binyamina on Sunday, three of them seriously. It was one of the worst strikes in Israel during the war.

Israeli media reported that two drones were launched in Lebanon, while the Israeli military said one was captured.

It is not clear who was injured, soldiers or civilians, and what was hit.

Hezbollah said in a statement that it was targeting an Israeli military training camp in retaliation for two Israeli strikes in Beirut on Thursday that killed 22 people.

It was the second drone strike in two days in Israel. On Saturday, during the Israeli holiday of Yom Kippur, a drone attacked a suburb of Tel Aviv, causing damage but no injuries.

This strike came on the day America announced it send a new air defense system to Israel to help strengthen its defenses against missiles.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah, allied with Hamas, began firing rockets into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023 – the day after Hamas attacks Israel, it begins. war in Gaza. The conflict intensified in September with this wave Israeli strikes that killed Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and most of his top brass. Israel launched an operation in southern Lebanon earlier this month.

At least 2,255 people have been killed in Lebanon since the conflict began, including more than 1,400 since September, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health, which did not say how many were Hezbollah fighters. At least 54 people have been killed in rocket attacks in Israel, almost half of them soldiers.