300 frontline peacekeepers in Lebanon have moved to larger bases

The U.N. peacekeeping chief says 300 peacekeepers in frontline positions on southern Lebanon’s border have been temporarily moved to larger bases, and plans to move another 200 will depend on security conditions as the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalates.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Thursday that peacekeepers with the U.N. force, known as UNIFIL, are staying in their positions but because of air and ground attacks they cannot conduct patrols.

As a result, Lacroix said, UNIFIL had decided to reduce its footprint “at the most affected U.N. positions by 25%.” On Oct. 3, he told reporters that in some places in southern Lebanon, the number of peacekeepers had been reduced by about 20%.

Lacroix told the council that shortly before Israel began ground operations on Oct. 1, the Israeli army urged UNIFIL peacekeepers to vacate positions within 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) of the Blue Line, the U.N.-drawn boundary between Israel and Lebanon, for their safety. Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon reiterated that call Thursday.

Earlier Thursday, Lacroix said, a U.N. observation post in UNIFIL’s headquarters in Naqoura was hit by Israeli tank fire, wounding two peacekeepers. Israeli soldiers also fired on a U.N. position from a hole they made in a fence Wednesday, damaging several vehicles and a communications system, he said.

Lacroix said the UNIFIL commander has strongly protests these actions to the Israeli military. He said the U.N. has also strongly protested the Israeli army “installing positions directly adjacent to U.N. positions.”

UNIFIL was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel’s 1978 invasion. The U.N. expanded its mission after the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, allowing peacekeepers to deploy along the Israeli border. It currently has nearly 10,000 military personnel.