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Belfast Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
Government lodges protest letter over Israeli gunfire near peacekeepers
The incident came during a joint Irish-United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) and Lebanese armed forces patrol close to the Blue Line on Thursday. None of the Irish personnel – who had recently been deployed with Unifil as part of the 126th Infantry Battalion – were injured in the incident. Oglaigh na hEireann said on Thursday that all personnel were reported to be safe and well, and continued to monitor the situation in southern Lebanon. On the direction of the Irish Minister for Defence, Simon Harris, a formal 'demarche' has been served on the Israeli government through the UN. It says Ireland considers the incident in the village of Yaroun as 'completely unacceptable in terms of the safety of peacekeepers and the execution of their mandated duties'. 'These concerns are held at the highest levels' of the Irish Government and the Defence Forces, it adds. Tanaiste Mr Harris was briefed on the incident by the new Chief of Staff Brigadier General Rossa Mulcahy. Just before midday on Thursday, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) fired shots into an area where a joint Irish-Lebanese unit was conducting peacekeeping duties. Nobody was injured. Mr Harris said: '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. 'I want to pay tribute to our personnel deployed with Unifil, who are operating in an increasingly volatile and tense environment.'
RTÉ News
3 days ago
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Govt lodges formal démarche over Israeli fire at UNIFIL unit
The Government has lodged a formal protest letter through the United Nations over the decision by the Israeli military to fire up to 30 rounds towards an Irish-Lebanese unit helping civilians in south Lebanon on Thursday. The formal démarche correspondence, extracts of which have been seen by RTÉ News, states that what happened was "completely unacceptable in terms of the safety of peacekeepers" operating in the area. It continues that "these concerns are held at the highest levels" of the Government and the Defence Forces, and must not be repeated. A démarche is a formal letter of protest from the diplomatic wing of one country to another country, and is officially registered through the United Nations. Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Simon Harris gave permission for it to be sent after he was briefed by incoming Defence Forces Chief of Staff Brigadier General Rossa Mulcahy over the incident on Thursday. The incident occurred in the south Lebanese village of Yaroun, which is 10km from Camp Shamrock, where Irish peacekeepers are based on the buffer zone blue line. While helping locals in the village, which was heavily damaged by the Israeli military last year, a joint unit of six Irish blue helmets and members of the Lebanese Armed Forces was shot towards by Israeli military personnel. Up to 30 shots were fired towards the unit over the space of nine minutes, with UNIFIL confirming all bullets landing within 50m of the unit. While no injuries occurred, the unit was forced to leave the area, with sources describing the incident as involving warning shots at the peacemakers. The formal démarche correspondence is the second to have been sent by Ireland to Israel this month. In mid-May, a number of Irish diplomats were part of a diplomatic unit which also had bullets fired towards them in Jenin in the West Bank. No one was injured.
Irish Independent
4 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Simon Harris to lodge formal letter of objection with Israel over ‘reckless' shots fired into area with Irish peacekeepers
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'.
