UN protects terrorists in Lebanon and Gaza

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), tasked with peacekeeping on the Israeli border and preventing Hezbollah terrorists from launching rockets and missiles into the Jewish state, has repeatedly failed to achieve its objective. 

Because Hezbollah attacks have not ceased since October 8, 2023, one day after the attack carried out by Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups in southern Israel, which forced around 100,000 Israelis to flee their homes, Israeli forces entered Lebanon on October 1 to launch an offensive against the terrorists. These groups have been allowed by UNIFIL to operate in southern Lebanon, where they stockpiled weapons and built a network of tunnels.

One of these tunnels was found by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) about 300 feet from an UNIFIL position.

Israel has repeatedly asked the UN peacekeeping force to withdraw its soldiers three miles northward to prevent them from being harmed in battles against Hezbollah terrorists, but the United Nations has refused to do so, thus hindering Israeli operations in the region and endangering UNIFIL's own troops.

The Wall Street Journal mentioned, in an editorial article, some of the complaints made by UN peacekeepers following a series of incidents that occurred since the IDF began its ground incursion into southern Lebanon.

On one occasion they protested the presence of Israeli troops near one of their positions. Then they were angry about a series of explosions that occurred near an observation tower that injured two of their soldiers. They were also upset because, they claimed, Israeli tanks had entered through one of their gates. They claimed that smoke from several rounds of gunfire near their positions caused skin irritation and stomach issues among their soldiers.

If UNIFIL forces remain in the combat zone despite having been warned by Israel, they are not innocent human shields, but are deliberately protecting Hezbollah.Anne Bayefsky, professor at Touro College, New York

While these situations are regrettable, the fact is that they are occurring amid intense fighting and, as noted, after Israel requested that UNIFIL forces withdraw from the area.

These incidents have not only drawn condemnation from the UN but also from the European Union (EU), with many media outlets portraying the situation as if Israel had deliberately targeted UNIFIL. However, there has been no corresponding condemnation of the Hezbollah attacks, which were the actual trigger for Israel's incursion into the area.

Why is UNIFIL in southern Lebanon?

UNIFIL arrived in southern Lebanon in 1978 as a result of UN Security Council Resolution 425, following the IDF's Operation Litani against Palestinian terrorists in southern Lebanese territory.

Israel had hoped that UNIFIL would succeed in stopping or at least hindering attacks against its territory. However, the terrorist offensives against the Jewish state only intensified, resulting in the IDF launching Operation Peace for Galilee, which later became the First Lebanon War of 1982.

In an article published in the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, journalist Ariel Bulstein argued that it was Israel's security zone in southern Lebanon, maintained until 2000, that effectively prevented most attacks, not the presence of UNIFIL soldiers. According to Bulstein, the soldiers were there merely to collect high salaries and send them back to their families in third-world countries.

After the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Israel demanded UN forces to prevent the strengthening of Hezbollah and the terrorist group's attacks against the Jewish state.

The UN Security Council passed Resolution 1701 to respond to Israel's requests, but as Bulstein pointed out, it turned out to be another deception. The resolution stated that Hezbollah could not establish itself south of the Litani River. Despite this, the group only deployed in that area but also continued its terrorist activities unhindered.

"Every dollar that goes to UNRWA is money for terrorism."Yulia Malinovsky, Israeli MP

Moreover, Hezbollah has deepened its control in southern Lebanon, which is what Israel is trying to disarm today.

In fact, the Jewish state recently discovered that Hezbollah was prepared in southern Lebanon to carry out an attack similar to October 7 after Hamas carried out the massacre in Israel.

In his article, Bulstein reported that Anne Bayefsky, a professor at Touro College in New York, stated that if UNIFIL forces remain in the combat zone despite Israel's warnings, they are not innocent human shields but are deliberately protecting Hezbollah. He added that any harm they incur will be the responsibility of the Lebanese terrorists and the UN itself.

Did UNRWA help Sinwar?

Yahya Sinwar, Hamas leader in Gaza and the mastermind behind the October 7 attack, was killed Thursday by the IDF in the Gazan city of Rafah.

Alongside Sinwar's body and two other terrorists killed in the Israeli operation were weapons, cash and a number of documents. One of the documents belonged to a teacher at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). UNRWA has been under fire because at least nine of its employees were found to be involved in the October 7 attack. The agency has also been accused of inciting hatred toward Jews in its schools.

Israeli parliamentarian Yulia Malinovsky from the Israel Beitenu (Israel Our Home) party said, "The document of an UNRWA teacher found on Sinwar's body proves once again that UNRWA is an integral part of Hamas. In addition to the fact that UNRWA has for years provided goods, shelter and terrorists from its ranks to Hamas, we now discover that it gave Sinwar a document from one of its employees, probably to help him escape to Egypt."

She added, "This organization is corrupt to the core, and the world must understand that every dollar that goes to UNRWA is money for terrorism."