Israel Matzav

Shocka: UNIFIL helped Lebanese breach border

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gavriela Shalev, has accused UNIFIL of assisting 15 Lebanese in breaching Israel's border on Friday.

On Friday, 15 Lebanese civilians crossed illegally into Israel, shouting and waving Hizbullah flags. IDF troops spotted the group, but did not confront them as they were reportedly unarmed and returned to Lebanon minutes later, without incident.

In a letter submitted by the ambassador to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the president of the United Nations Security Council, Shalev accused a contingent of Indian UNIFIL peacekeepers of having done nothing to prevent the demonstrators from crossing the border and even cooperating with the group.

"[The demonstrators] stood opposite the UNIFIL force, [which did nothing,] and worse than that, according to statements made by the organizers of the demonstration, they even cooperated with them," the letter read.

In her complaint, the Israeli ambassador lashed out at Hizbullah for its "grievous violations of Resolution 1701," which included both the border breach, as well as an attack by Lebanese villagers against UNIFIL troops on Saturday who were investigating an explosion last week in a suspected Hizbullah arms depot in southern Lebanon.

Both incidents "demonstrate an escalation and a pattern of behavior in Lebanon, that must be confronted," Shalev wrote in her letter.

This is not the first time that UNIFIL has been accused of helping the Hezbullah terrorist organization.

The fact that Olmert and Livni continue to insist that UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which brought the 'beefed up' UNIFIL into southern Lebanon in the aftermath of the Second Lebanon War, was a 'triumph' and an 'accomplishment' for Israel is patently absurd.

The next war in Lebanon is coming. It may be upon us sooner than we think.

By the way, the picture at the top of this post is the UNIFIL car used in the kidnapping of IDF soldiers Benny Avraham, Omar Souad and Adi Avitan HY"D (may God avenge their blood) in 2000. Full story here.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:13 PM