In the wake of controversial report on last month’s shelling of a United Nations base in southern Lebanon, Israel plans to ask the U.N. Security Council to reconsider UNIFIL’s mandate when it comes up for renewal in July.
Israel complained that the U.N. report on the April 18 shelling in Kana, in which at least 91 Lebanese civilians were killed, did not take into account evidence provided by the Israel Defense Force and failed to emphasize the fact that Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel near U.N. positions.
David Peleg, Israel’s top diplomat to the United Nations, told Israel Radio, "We have reported to the U.N. 34 cases in which Hezbollah shelled Israel less than 200 meters from a U.N. position.
"The question is, what did UNIFIL do to prevent these attacks, and if they didn’t do much, why?" he said, referring to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
Peleg said the report’s findings would cast a new light on the relationship between Israeli forces and the U.N. peacekeeping forces stationed in southern Lebanon.
Such a report, he said "when puts the blame on Israel and suggests that the shelling o Kana base was done deliberately – although it doesn’t use these words – will certainly have an impact on the relationship between Israel and UNIFIL."
Some 4,500 U.N. peacekeepers have been stationed in southern Lebanon since 1978. Their mandate is renewed every six months.
Israel has maintained that artillery units were responding to Hezbollah fire from a nearby site, and that map errors resulted in the tragic accident. It has also denied U.N. claims that a pilotless drone was in the area at the time of the shelling.
The report was presented to the U.N. Security Council this week, and Lebanon has asked that actions be taken against Israel in light of the inquiry’s findings.
However, Lebanon’s efforts to pass a Security Council resolution condemning Israel have apparently garnered little support.
In addition to Israel, both the United States and France have been critical of the report’s findings.
Peleg said he doubted the Security Council would issue a condemnation of Israel as a result of the report.
"I think that what is most likely to happen is that after informal consultations, the president of the security council will either make a brief statement, or make some presidential statement on behalf of all the council members which refers generally to the report, without condemning Israel and without referring to the conclusions of the report," he said.
Meanwhile, the UNIFIL spokesman in South Lebanon, Timor Goksel, said without Israeli cooperation, the international peacekeepers would not be able to operate.
Pointing to the logistical fact of where personnel are stationed, Goksel said, "Cooperation is one of the key elements of UNIFIL’s existence here."
He also rejected Israeli criticism that the peacekeeping forces were not making efforts to control Hezbollah attacks from near U.N. positions.
He said the troops have sacrificed many victims "trying to prevent the area from being used for armed purposes."
Nearby, he added, there is "a Fijian soldier fighting for his life because he went out to stop a Katyusha from being fired."
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