Irish soldiers in Lebanon remain “steadfast in their determination and resilience to fulfil the mission”, the Defence Forces said on Sunday as the Israeli army continued to push across the country’s southern border.
All personnel are accounted for and well, the Defence Forces said, as “the lines of engagement” moved north of UN Post 6-52, the post manned by the Irish soldiers taking part in the UN peacekeeping operation.
Unifil (the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) said it was “deeply concerned” by the recent activities of the Israeli army “immediately adjacent to the mission’s position 6-52″.
“This is an extremely dangerous development. It is unacceptable to compromise the safety of UN peacekeepers carrying out their Security Council-mandated task,” it said on Sunday.
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The developing situation in Lebanon came as Minister for Defence Micheál Martin marked one year since the October 7th attack by Hamas in which more than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and more than 250 taken hostage, 101 of whom are still in captivity, according to Israel.
“The horror of these attacks remains imprinted on our minds,” he said. “I reiterate Ireland’s unequivocal condemnation of them. I think today of the hostages still in Gaza and their families who desperately want them home. I call again for their immediate release.”
October 7th: A year of war
He added it was not possible to view the anniversary of the Hamas attack in isolation from “the justifiable outrage at the death and destruction suffered by the ordinary Palestinians in Gaza over the past 12 months”.
He called for an immediate ceasefire and hostage release deal, and a large scaling up of humanitarian assistance.
On Saturday, President Michael D Higgins said it was “outrageous” that the Israeli defence forces had “threatened” the Irish peacekeeping force and sought to have the troops evacuate the villages they are defending.
The Israeli embassy in Dublin described Mr Higgins’s comment as “unfounded and inflammatory” and said a request had been made to have troops “move from areas of military activity for their own protection and safety”. The safety of the peacekeeping force, it said, was of immense importance to Israel.
In Israel, ceremonies are to take place to mark the anniversary of the Hamas attack, including a pre-recorded state memorial to be broadcast on TV, and a commemoration in Tel Aviv organised by the families of the victims and the hostages.
Many of the families blame the government of Binyamin Netanyahu for allowing Hamas to build up its military strength, for failing to deploy adequate military forces along the border with Gaza and for the slow response to the breach of the border fence on October 7th.
Because of this, they have told the government they do not want the names or images of their loved ones used in the official ceremony.
Israel remains poised to carry out a large-scale attack against Iran, which last week launched almost 200 ballistic missiles at Israel.
“Iran has twice fired hundreds of missiles at us, the largest ballistic missile attack in history. No country in the world would accept such an attack on its cities and its citizens,” said Mr Netanyahu.
Israeli troops continue to push deeper into south Lebanon as they force Iranian-backed Hizbullah militants away from the border area. Residents of dozens of Lebanese villages have been ordered to leave their homes and air strikes continued on Sunday against what were described as Hizbullah targets in Beirut and further north.
Fighting also escalated in Gaza with Israeli troops again entering Jabaliya near Gaza City to prevent what the military said was an attempt by Hamas fighters to reassert their presence in the area.
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