Harris to receive briefing on safety of peacekeepers in Lebanon

RTÉ News​

2 days ago

The Tánaiste Simon Harris will receive a briefing later today from the new Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Brigadier General Rossa Mulcahy, on the safety of Irish peacekeeping troops in south Lebanon.
It follows yesterday's incident, in which a joint patrol of Irish blue helmets and Lebanese soldiers came under small arms fire.
The Tánaiste has said the Israel Defence Forces are responsible for the shooting.
The Defence Forces have 298 members deployed to south Lebanon in recent weeks to participate in a six-month tour of duty with the 126th Infantry Battalion.
Yesterday, a joint patrol, involving Irish peacekeepers and Lebanese Armed Forces, were shot at near the village of Yaroun which had been heavily damaged by the IDF last year.
Yaroun is roughly 10km from the main Irish military base, known as 2-45 or Camp Shamrock, which the Tánaiste visited in March of this year.
Mr Harris, who is also Minister for Defence, said an IDF patrol in Israel was responsible for firing across the border - something he described as "utterly inappropriate, utterly unacceptable".
He told RTÉ News: "This is the latest in a range of what I view as intimidatory behaviour by the IDF [Israel Defence Forces] towards peacekeepers, or as we saw recently, Irish diplomats too. So this is not acceptable."
The Force Commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon is expected to convey the Irish government's anger and concern at the shooting directly to the IDF.
Later today, the Tánaiste Simon Harris will receive a briefing from the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Brigadier General Rossa Mulcahy, on the safety of Irish peacekeeping troops in south Lebanon.
It will be the first formal meeting between the two men.
The former Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Seán Clancy, has recently taken up the position of chair of the Brussels-based EU Military Committee.