EU, GCC voice concerns about 'Israel' attacks on UNIFIL
4 Min Read
The European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council affirm their support for the Lebanese people as they voice concern about many of "Israel's" actions.
-
An Italian UN peacekeeper soldier stands guard at a road that links to a United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) in Naqoura, Lebanon, Tuesday, May 4, 2021 (AP)
The European Union (EU) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) issued a joint statement on Wednesday, condemning recent Israeli attacks on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and expressing grave concerns about escalating violence in light of the Israeli onslaught on Lebanon.
The Israeli aggression on Lebanon, which has included indiscriminate airstrikes and habitual carpet bombings of entire neighborhoods and more recently, an invasion, has thus far killed 2,367 people and wounded 11,088 others in Lebanon, as reported by the country's Health Ministry.
"We are extremely concerned by the dangerous escalation in Lebanon and affirm our support for the Lebanese people," said the EU and GCC, following their first summit in Brussels. The statement saw the two blocs condemn any attacks on UN personnel, though it expressed "particularly grave concerns" over the recent attacks on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.
In one of the latest acts of aggression against the UNIFIL, Israeli tanks made an incursion into one of the peacekeepers' positions after having fired at them earlier in the week and used them as human shields against the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon.
On Wednesday, UN troops in Lebanon reported that Israeli occupation forces (IOF) shot at one of their locations in South Lebanon.
Peacekeepers in the southern town of Kfar Kila saw an IOF tank "firing at their watchtower," UNIFIL stated, adding that "two cameras were destroyed, and the tower was damaged" in what the force described as "direct and apparently deliberate fire on a UNIFIL position."
In a joint statement issued on Monday, Italy, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany demanded an end to deliberate attacks on UNIFIL troops operating in southern Lebanon, stating that such actions "must stop" and are "in violation of international humanitarian law."
The statement follows a broader declaration from at least 40 countries made on Saturday, expressing their "full support" for UNIFIL forces in southern Lebanon. The declaration came after five UNIFIL personnel were injured in Israeli shelling within the preceding 48 hours.
Moroever, Lebanon's permanent mission to the United Nations, following instructions from the caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdallah Bou Habib, filed a formal complaint with both UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council in response to repeated Israeli attacks on UNIFIL sites in southern Lebanon.
Compliance with international law
The summit, co-chaired by European Council President Charles Michel and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, voiced "utmost concern" over recent developments in the occupied Palestinian territories, Gaza, and the West Bank, criticizing Israeli aggression and extremist settler violence.
They also condemned the Israeli government's decisions to expand settlements and legalize outposts across the occupied West Bank, including eastern al-Quds, urging the Israeli occupation to reverse these measures.
The joint statement called for an immediate halt to all unilateral actions that undermine peace prospects, including settlement expansion, land confiscation, and the displacement of Palestinians.
The leaders emphasized the importance of upholding international law and demanded the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2735, which calls for a ceasefire, the release of Israeli captives and Palestinian detainees, and humanitarian access to civilians.
"We call on all parties to comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, especially regarding the protection of civilians, particularly children," the statement added.
Both the EU and the GCC reaffirmed their commitment to a "two-state solution", calling for an end to actions weakening the Palestinian Authority. "We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the realization of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination through the Two-State solution where Israel and Palestine live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders, along the 1967 lines."
