ROME: Italy’s defence minister Thursday said shells fired at the headquarters of the UN’s Lebanon peacekeeping force blamed on Israel “could constitute war crimes” while France and Spain also protested to Israel.
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said Israeli tank fire on Thursday had wounded two Indonesian Blue Helmets.
“The hostile acts committed and repeated by Israeli forces against the base … could constitute war crimes,” Italy’s Defence Minister Guido Crosetto told a press conference.
Italy has more than 1,000 troops in the 10,000-strong force in south Lebanon, according to UNIFIL. France has more than 700 soldiers in the force, while Spain has more than 670. About 50 countries contribute to the force.
The defence minister said Italy has asked for an official explanation for the tank fire “because it was not a mistake”.
Italy had summoned the Israeli ambassador but Crosetto said he had not received a satisfactory explanation.
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France’s foreign ministry said it would also seek “explanations from the Israeli authorities” over the incident. “The protection of UN peacekeepers is an obligation for all parties in a conflict,” it added.
Spain’s foreign ministry said it “strongly condemns the Israeli firing that hit the UNIFIL headquarters” which it called a “grave violationof international law”.
Thursday’s incident is the most serious reported by UNIFIL since it said last week it had rejected Israeli demands to “relocate” from some positions.
“I told the ambassador to tell the Israeli government that the United Nations and Italy cannot take orders from Israel,” Crosetto said.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s office said the Italian government “has formally protested to Israeli authorities and has firmly reiterated that what is happening near the UNIFIL contingent base is unacceptable”.
In a statement earlier, Crosetto said he told Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant “that what is happening… starting from the shooting at the UNIFIL headquarters is, for me and for the Italian government, unacceptable”.
He slammed the “shooting” and other incidents involving “small arms fire” – including the deliberate disabling of perimeter-monitoring cameras – as “intolerable” and “in clear contrast to international law”.
“Any possible error that could put the soldiers, both Italian and UNIFIL, at risk must be avoided,” he said, adding that he had sent a “formal communication” to the UN about the issue.
UNIFIL was set up in 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon in reprisal for a Palestinian attack.
It was bolstered by Security Council Resolution 1701 after Hezbollah and Israel fought a war in 2006. Its peacekeepers are tasked with monitoring the ceasefire between the two sides.