The Irish troops stationed in Lebanon continue to stand firm in their resolve towards their mission, according to the Defence Forces, despite ongoing advances from the Israeli military along Lebanon’s southern border. They assured that all staff are safe and accounted for even as the ‘front lines’ pushed past the UN Post 6-52, a position covered by these Irish soldiers who are actively participating in the UN peacekeeping operations.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil), expressed deep concern about the Israel Army’s recent manoeuvres closely situated to the mission’s position 6-52. Deeming this a highly dangerous progress, they emphasised the unacceptability of endangering UN peacekeepers engaged in their Security Council approved tasks, especially on a Sunday.
This evolving scenario in Lebanon occurred in conjunction with the Defence Minister Micheál Martin’s one-year commemoration of the October 7th attack initiated by Hamas, which resulted in the death of over 1,200 individuals, hostages taken exceeding 250, and the unfortunate continuation of captivity for 101, as reported by Israel.
“The atrocious nature of these attacks is still etched in our memories,” Mr Martin stated. “I renew Ireland’s absolute disapproval of these attacks. Today, my thoughts are with those still held captive in Gaza and their relations desperately yearning for their return. I demand their release without further ado.”
“The mere thought of the one-year Hamas attack anniversary shrouded with legitimate anger surrounding the death and destruction faced by common Palestinians in Gaza over the last year is immensely disconcerting,” he added, strongly appealing for an immediate ceasefire and hostage release arrangement, supplemented with a significant upsurge in humanitarian aid.
President Michael D Higgins criticised the Israeli defence forces’ alleged threats towards Irish peacekeepers, terming it “appalling”, and rallied for the troops to defend the villages they were stationed in without having to evacuate, on Saturday.
The Israeli consulate in Dublin has labelled the remarks made by Mr Higgins as “baseless and provoking”, revealing a request had been lodged for troops to vacate conflict zones for their own security. The embassy stressed Israel’s deep concern for the safety of the peace-keeping forces.
In Israel, the anniversary of a previous attack by Hamas is set to be commemorated. A state memorial pre-recorded for TV broadcast and a tribute in Tel Aviv, coordinated by the victims’ families and those kept hostage, are due.
The government underneath Binyamin Netanyahu’s governance is severely criticised by the victims’ families, accusing it of being lackadaisical in handling Hamas’s increase in military power, falling short in stationing sufficient military personnel along the Gaza border, and showing incompetence in addressing the border fence’s October 7th breach. They conveyed their unwillingness to the government to have their departed family members’ images and names used in any formal ceremony.
Israel stays prepared for a massive attack on Iran, after Iran launched close to 200 ballistic missiles aimed at Israel just last week. Mr Netanyahu stated, “No nation in the world would tolerate an attack of this magnitude on its cities and people, considering Iran’s ballistic missile attack on us, which is the largest ever in history.”
Israeli forces persist in their advancement into southern Lebanon, successfully driving Iranian-supported Hizbullah militants further from the border. Beirut and places north saw continual air strikes against Hizbullah targets, as dozens of Lebanese village dwellers were mandated to abandon their residences on Sunday.
In addition, there was an upsurge of conflict in Gaza, with Israeli forces again invading Jabaliya, near Gaza city, to inhibit the alleged efforts of Hamas soldiers to regain control of the region.