Weekly report -7/10
UN Peacekeepers injured in Israeli attacks
Israeli attacks have injured UN Peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), operating along the Security Council-mandated Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon, on two separate occasions. According to a UNIFIL statement cited by the HRW, Israeli attacks “deliberately fired on and disabled the headquarters’ monitoring cameras” on Wednesday, October 9. According to the statement, on October 10 Israeli tank fire hit an observation tower at the UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura, injuring two peacekeepers. On Friday, October 11, Al Jazeera stated that two peacekeepers were injured in the second Israeli attack within 48 hours on the same position. According to The Times of Israel, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that Hezbollah targets were situated near the UNIFIL headquarters, and that on Friday Israeli troops fired at an “immediate threat” in the area. The attacks have stirred widespread condemnation from the international community. According to Reuters, France, Italy and Spain issued a statement in which the attacks were characterized as "unjustifiable" and a "serious violation of the obligations of Israel under UNSCR (United Nations Security Council Resolution) 1701 and under humanitarian international law”. The statement also called for an “immediate ceasefire”. According to The Washington Post, US President Joe Biden said he is “absolutely, positively” asking Israel to stop firing at UN peacekeepers. UN peacekeeping head Jean-Pierre Lacroix quoted by The Washington Times stated that UNIFIL forces are “increasingly in jeopardy”. On Friday afternoon, Al Jazeera reported that another UNIFIL peacekeeper was injured.
Sources: UN News, Human Rights Watch (HRW), Times of Israel, Al Jazeera, Reuters, Washington Post
Meeting between presidents of Russia and Iran Putin and Pezeshkian
On Friday, October 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a conference in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, according to Reuters. This was their first face-to-face meeting since Pezeshkian took office earlier in the year. Russian state media TASS emphasized “the implementation of joint projects in the oil, gas, and energy sectors” as a central aim of the meeting, while CNN associated the meeting with “closer military ties between Iran and Russia’s military in recent years”, especially since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in 2022. Reuters and Al Jazeera highlighted Putin’s comment to TASS about Russia’s relation with Iran: "We actively work together in the international arena, and our assessments of current events in the world are often very close". Al Jazeera cited the Iranian news agency IRNA according to which Pezeshkian echoed these sentiments, praising the growing collaboration between the two nations. According to Al Jazeera, the countries also seemed to find common ground on the matter of Israel’s wars in Lebanon and Gaza. The meeting took place after Putin had addressed the conference about establishing a “new world order” opposed to the domination of the West, and raised questions about further Russian military involvement with Iran. A Chatham House analyst quoted by CNN stated that Russia’s focus is in Ukraine, and “it probably cannot stretch itself much in terms of delivery of technical and military capability to Iran beyond a certain point”.
Sources: CNN, TASS, Al Jazeera, Reuters
Israeli draft bill to ban UNRWA
On Sunday, October 6, a parliamentary committee in Israel passed a bill that aims to ban the operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) within its borders, and cease contact with the government. The bill still needs final approval in the Knesset. According to the Jerusalem Post, the legislative proposal came in response to earlier claims of UNRWA workers collaborating with Hamas: Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon suggested that “it was time that the UN acknowledged that it had turned into an ‘arm of Hamas’”. The bill that would block UNRWA operations in Israel has sparked widespread international condemnation: According to UN News, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres stated that banning UNRWA “would be a catastrophe”. The EU supported Guterres’ message, and described the potential consequences of the bill as “disastrous” in a statement by Josep Borrell, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. France 24 reported that US envoy to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, described the US to be observing the legislative proposal with “deep concern”, and that many UNSC members “were unanimous in calling for Israel to respect UNRWA's work and to protect its staff”. Earlier this year, the Israeli parliament preliminarily approved a bill that declared UNRWA a terrorist organization, according to The Times of Israel. The claims of UNRWA cooperating with Hamas led to several international donors pulling their funding from the UN organization, as per Al Jazeera.
Sources: France 24, Al Jazeera, Jerusalem Post, UN News, The Times of Israel
