In a letter to the UN, Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister Micheál Martin has communicated his “grave apprehension” following an incident where Irish peacekeepers were involved in what is speculated to be an aerial attack by an Israeli drone.
An armed detail, comprising six Irish servicemen, found themselves in the midst of the aerial assault that happened in Lebanon on the past Saturday. Fortunately, they remained unharmed, however, two armoured vehicles they were travelling in incurred damage.
Addressing the correspondence to Mr Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN under-secretary general responsible for peacekeeping, Mr Martin reportedly voiced his strong concerns regarding the event, highlighting the escalating dangers in the region.
A person acquainted with the letter’s specifics noted that Mr Martin emphasised that both the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and Hizbullah need “to be reminded of their responsibilities towards the United Nations’ peacekeepers’ safety”.
Mr Martin reaffirmed Ireland’s ongoing support to the UN’s mission in Lebanon (Unifil) and strenuously advocated for a prompt probe into the episode.
Following a video released by the IDF featuring the drone attack launched by Israeli forces on the Hanine village, both the Irish Defence and government officials are convinced of this narrative. The village falls within the surveillance area of the Irish soldiers working with the peacekeeping operation in Lebanon.
It is anticipated that Irish officials will seek clarification on whether the Israeli personnel were aware of Unifil peacekeepers’ presence in the vicinity. Typically, the UN divulges the patrolling information to the participating armed groups in the region, including IDF, Hizbullah and the Lebanese Armed Forces.
Treating the issue, the IDF acknowledged that it was merely one among the several attacks directed against “Hizbullah’s military facilities and weapon stores in Hanine, Ayta ash Shab, Khiam, and Blida in southern Lebanon.”
Subsequent to the blast, the footage portrays two vehicles escaping from the blast scene. Ireland’s sources have identified these vehicles as the articulated utility vehicles (AUVs) carrying the Irish and Polish soldiers.
On Monday, the Israeli embassy in Dublin announced that they were looking into the aerial assault on Hanine.v
The spokesperson also reminded that Hizbullah has been launching attacks on Israel for the past 10 months, causing almost 100,000 people to flee their homes and putting Unifil soldiers’ lives stationed in Lebanon at peril.
Israel has on numerous occasions, urged the global community to impose pressure on Hizbullah to halt its actions,” sources mentioned how the vehicles had distinctive UN emblems, including those on the rooftops. As yet, the Irish Government has not formally blamed Israel for the attack.
A female representative from the Department of Defence verified that the Tánaiste penned a letter to Mr Lacroix regarding the event in southern Lebanon. As per the representative, the letter put forth the Tánaiste’s ‘grave concern’ about the incident, highlighting ‘the escalating risk of intensifying conflict in the vicinity’.