The Nepali Army (NA) confirmed on Tuesday, October 15, that all its personnel deployed in the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Lebanon were safe.
NA spokesperson Gaurav Kumar KC told RSS, the state-owned news agency, that the army was in regular contact with its security forces in Lebanon, and all members were unharmed.
However, sporadic incidents in the region have disrupted the daily operations of the mission, said KC, adding that the Nepali Army will follow the directives from the UN and mission headquarters concerning the ongoing situation in Lebanon.
On Monday, Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) “strongly” condemned recent attacks on the UNIFIL peacekeepers by the Israeli military.
In a post on the social media platform X, the ministry also urged parties of the conflict to guarantee the safety and security of peacekeepers. “Such actions must stop immediately and should be adequately investigated,” the ministry tweeted.
MoFA also posted the joint statement by 34 UNIFIL-contributing countries, including major contributors such as Indonesia and Italy, in which they have reaffirmed their full support for UNIFIL’s mission and activities.
“We consider UNIFIL’s role as particularly crucial in light of the escalating situation in the region,” the statement reads.
With 6,119 personnel, Nepal was the top contributor to the United Nations’ peacekeeping force as of July 31 this year, according to data available on the website of United Nations Peacekeeping.
UNIFIL is a peacekeeping mission established by the UN Security Council (UNSC) in March 1978, days after Israel invaded Lebanon, according to Al Jazeera . It had more than 10,000 peacekeepers from 50 nations as of September 2 this year, with 876 from Nepal – the fourth highest after Indonesia, Italy and India.
Earlier on Sunday, October 13, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on UN chief Antonio Guterres to move peacekeepers deployed in south Lebanon out of "harm's way", saying Hezbollah was using them as "human shields", reported AFP.
However, UNIFIL has refused to leave its positions.
“The decision was made that UNIFIL would currently stay in all its positions in spite of the calls that were made by the Israel Defense Forces to vacate the positions that are in the vicinity of the Blue Line," said Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN under-secretary-general for peace operations, after briefing the Security Council on the situation in Lebanon on Monday.
The UN Security Council has also expressed its strong concern over the ongoing hostilities across the Blue Line.
"Several peacekeepers have been wounded," said Pascale Baeriswyl, president of the Security Council for October and permanent representative of Switzerland to the United Nations, in a statement after closed-door Security Council consultations on Monday.
The members of the Security Council urged all parties to respect the safety and security of UNIFIL personnel and UN premises, reiterating their support to the mission, and underscoring its role in supporting regional stability, she said.
They called on all parties to abide by international humanitarian law; called for the full implementation of Security Council resolution 1701; and emphasised the need for "diplomatic endeavours that would bring a durable end" to the conflict and allow civilians on both sides of the Blue Line to return safely to their homes, she added.
After almost a year of cross-border fire over the Gaza war, Israel on September 23 launched an intense air campaign mainly targeting Hezbollah's south and east Lebanon strongholds, as well as Beirut's southern suburbs, according to international media reports. Since Israel last month escalated its bombing in Lebanon before sending ground troops across the frontier, the war has killed at least 1,315 people, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, though the real toll is likely higher.
AFP/RSS