A former UN soldier said: interview He told Danish media on Sunday that the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon was “completely at the mercy of Hezbollah” and could only patrol areas where the Iran-backed terror group had given permission to operate.
The soldier, who requested anonymity and used the name “Michael,” is a former military employee. United Nations Ceasefire Monitoring Organization (Eunseo). He was appointed to serve in Lebanon about 10 years ago.
Unzo assist A peacekeeping operation that sends military observers to monitor ceasefire agreements. Its first mission was to monitor the 1949 Israeli-Arab armistice in the Palestinian territories.
Michael said his job was to monitor compliance with United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution 1701, which called on Hezbollah to withdraw all its forces from southern Lebanon. He said Hezbollah was not only in the region illegally, but also had complete control of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Lebanon's controversial peacekeeping mission established in 1978. said.
“We were completely under Hezbollah's control. Our freedom of movement was clearly restricted. For example, we didn't operate after dark for fear of Hezbollah. . So they had free time in the evening and night,” he said.
Mr. Michael said Hezbollah simply blocked UNTSO observers and UNIFIL peacekeepers from entering areas in southern Lebanon.
“They simply blocked roads. They were not visibly armed, but they were aggressive and it was clear that they were Hezbollah members. “We knew very well what we were making the decisions about,” he said.
“They didn't want us to see what they were doing,” he charged.
Even more outrageously, Michael said UN monitors were told to stand back and turn a blind eye when Hezbollah was conducting suspicious activities right under their noses.
“When we patrolled the Blue Line, we often saw ‘civilians’ taking pictures in close proximity to Israeli military installations. When that happened, we retreated and observed from a distance, simply because we were instructed to do so,” he said.
Michael said Hezbollah forcibly confiscated his equipment when he tried to collect evidence of illegal activity. Some of his colleagues at UNTSO and UNIFIL did not try as hard.
“There were several interpreters who were indoctrinated into Hezbollah. I threw one of them out of the car once while he was praising Hassan Nasrallah. I just didn't want to hear it. ” he said.
Nasrallah was the autocratic leader of Hezbollah for almost 30 years, until the creation of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). excluded The airstrike was carried out in late September.
Michael said all of the incredible violations he described to his Danish interviewer were formally reported to UNTSO officials, but “nothing happened.”
“I never heard back from them and nothing started. It was extremely frustrating and only confirmed what I had experienced in other countries where I had been posted: that the United Nations is incompetent. ” he declared.
Michael's testimony is timely as Israel is in conflict with UNIFIL during IDF operations in Lebanon. Israelis accuse UNIFIL of turning a blind eye to Hezbollah's illegal activities, just as Michael described.
UNIFIL has accused the Israeli military of deliberately targeting its positions; asked UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for UNIFIL forces to withdraw from the conflict area, accusing them of interfering with legitimate Israeli military operations and accidentally or intentionally supporting Hezbollah.
“Your refusal to evacuate UNIFIL soldiers makes them hostages to Hezbollah. This puts their lives and the lives of our soldiers at risk,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. said Guterres last week.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu advised the United Nations to direct its anger over UNIFIL forces' casualties to Hezbollah, which is using UN forces as a “human shield.”
On Monday, the United Nations again accused Israeli forces “deliberately” target UNIFIL observation towers and security fences.
“Once again, we remind the IDF and all stakeholders of their obligation to ensure the safety and security of United Nations personnel and property and to respect the integrity of United Nations facilities at all times.” UNIFIL stated.
