An Irish-Israeli diplomatic crisis has been defused after Israel withdrew its invasion force from firing positions metres from a U.N. post in south Lebanon staffed by Irish peacekeepers.
Irish President Michael D. Higgins had called Israeli demands for U.N. peacekeepers to abandon their posts as its invading army crossed deeper into Lebanese sovereign territory “an outrageous threat.”
The incident underlined how Israel is increasingly alienating itself on the international stage while continuing to undermine institutions and instruments of international humanitarian law.
Satellite images published by Irish state broadcaster RTE showed two dozen Israeli Defense Force (IDF) military vehicles, including tanks, located just 60 metres from the boundary of U.N. outpost 6-52 last Saturday as it exchanged fire with Shia resistance group Hezbollah.
[The Washington Post reported Friday that Israel has wounded U.N. peacekeepers after Al Jazeera reported Thursday that “United Nations peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix tells UN Security Council that safety and security of peacekeepers in Lebanon is ‘increasingly in jeopardy’ as Israeli forces open fire on UNIFIL posts in country’s south, injuring two.”]
Since Monday 30 Irish soldiers stationed at UNP6-52, approximately 1km from the Lebanese town of Maroun El-Ras, had been bunkered down and isolated from their 300-odd comrades at Camp Shamrock, which lies West of Bint Jbeil and 7km from the border with Israel.
Hellbound and Down 