Simon Harris to lodge formal letter of objection with Israel over ‘reckless' shots fired into area with Irish peacekeepers

Irish Independent

4 days ago

The Minister for Foreign Affairs said the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) fired shots into an area where a joint Irish-Lebanese unit were conducting peacekeeping duties on Thursday.
The Irish Defence Forces confirmed none of its members were injured.
'It's clear to me that the actions of the IDF were reckless, intimidatory, totally unacceptable and a clear breach of the international rules surrounding peacekeeping,' Mr Harris said.
'I want to pay tribute to our personnel deployed with Unifil who are operating in an increasingly volatile and tense environment.
'My officials in the Department of Defence will today formally lodge a protest letter over what happened yesterday and this will be communicated directly with Israel.'
Irish peacekeepers had to withdraw from a patrol in Lebanon ­yesterday after coming under fire from Israeli soldiers.
Mr Harris described the incident as 'deeply worrying'.
The military said small arms rounds were fired in the vicinity of Irish peacekeepers as they patrolled near the Blue Line, a demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel.
It is understood the incident happened at around midday yesterday, close to the village of Yaroun in southern Lebanon.
The Irish personnel were ­recently deployed to Lebanon as part of the 126th Infantry Battalion who serve with the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (Unifil).
Mr Harris said the incident illustrates the ­dangers Defence Forces personnel face as they strive to maintain peace in the region.
'While I am very pleased to report that all personnel are safe and well, the fact they came under fire while on patrol is deeply worrying,' he said.'Today's incident illustrates the dangers our peacekeepers face every single day while on a patrol in a region that has been increasingly unstable and volatile.'
The incident happened on International UN Peacekeepers' Day as the ­Tánaiste announced the renewal of Ireland's Unifil mandate for 12 more months.
'Ireland is proud to have been part of the Unifil mission since 1978 – 30,000 personnel have served there to date,' he said. 'We are deeply committed to this vital mission, one that supports peace, delivers stability and protects the communities in southern Lebanon.'
The 126th Infantry Battalion deployed to Lebanon this month as part of the Unifil mission. It is made up of 298 Irish soldiers and 10 from Malta, with over a third of personnel on their first overseas mission.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Micheál Martin doubled down on President Michael D Higgins's assertion that there is a concerted Israeli campaign to damage Ireland because of this country's leadership on Gaza.
There was also an attempt to smear the President for speaking out, he said.
There has been propaganda against Ireland, in claims that we support Hamas – which is utter nonsense
'I think there's no question but that Israel has engineered a campaign against Ireland because of the stance we have taken at the United Nations, at the European Union and at the International Court of Justice, where we've legally intervened in the South African case [against Israel],' Mr Martin said.
'It's not that individual companies are raising it with us, but we are hearing back from our embassies and elsewhere that people are raising it.'
Earlier in the same venue, Mr ­Higgins said there was a 'slander' and 'propaganda' campaign against Ireland internationally by Israel, which involved labelling critics of the Benjamin ­Netanyahu government as 'antisemitic'.
Mr Higgins said he and others who have spoken out against the Israeli army's actions had been subjected to a 'propaganda campaign in Ireland'.
The Taoiseach said he had discussed the matter with the President and agreed with him.
'There has been propaganda against Ireland, in claims that we support Hamas – which is utter nonsense,' he said. 'People have been contacted ahead of Irish embassy events and are then turning up at various receptions asking 'What's happening in Ireland?' and so forth.'
There was also a cyber campaign against Ireland, the Taoiseach suggested.
'We've condemned Hamas consistently, from day one, for the slaughter of October 7, and consistently called for the release of all hostages, yet you'll see online a lot of attempts to smear Ireland,' he said.
'I think the President has been subject to some of that as well. I find that regrettable, because he's been a very consistent supporter of Holocaust Day and remembrance. Some of his best friends in life were people who suffered at the hands of the Nazis.'
Mr Higgins is 'a very fair-minded person, but because he took a stance on Gaza there was an unwelcome focus on him as well, which was partisan and not fair or balanced'.
The Irish people are sickened by the barbarity and scale of what is happening to the Palestinian people, the Taoiseach said. There was 'absolute, total, barbaric destruction of Gaza'.
'When you see nine children of a doctor killed in one house, people are horrified at that and feel helpless. I can understand why,' he added.
Mr Martin said Ireland now had 'to focus our attention on Europe to work on getting the [EU-Israel] trade agreement suspended until this war stops, at a minimum'.