900 Indian UN peacekeepers in Lebanon stay put under Israeli attack

The UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, including about 900 Indians, are remaining in place despite the “dangerous developments” following Israel’s ground invasion of the country. The UN is in close contact with their countries with updates, according to a UN spokesperson.

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) officials “confirm that despite these dangerous developments, UN peacekeepers remain in position and are regularly adjusting their posture and activities in order to fulfil their mandate”, secretary-general Antonio Guterres’ spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday, 1 October.

“UNIFIL peacekeepers continue to man all the bases and observation posts along the Blue Line that separates Lebanon and Israel,” he said.

But in the last few hours on Tuesday, they have not been able to do vehicular patrols along the Line, he added.

He said that Guterres “remains grateful” to the troop-contributing countries (TCC) “for their continued commitment and support to UNIFIL” as well as the Lebanon mission’s civilian and military personnel.

Amid the escalation of the conflict, Dujarric said, the peacekeepers are on their bases fulfilling their mandate, but sometimes “if the fighting goes to a certain phase, they do have to go into shelter”.

“The Department of Peace Operations (DPO) and UNIFIL are closely engaged with troop-contributing countries to update them on developments and contingency planning”, he added.

If the situation worsens, Dujarric said, the peacekeeping operation has contingency plans. “UNIFIL has been there for quite a long time. They've thought through different scenarios”, he said.

Guterres condemned the escalation of the Middle East conflict, without naming Israel (which began a ground invasion of Lebanon after aerial bombings), the Hezbollah (which has attacked Israel) or Iran (which launched a barrage of missiles against Israel). “I condemn the broadening of the Middle East conflict, with escalation after escalation,” he said. “This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire”.

The Indian peacekeepers include 873 troop personnel and 19 staff officers. Of these, 6 are women.

The UNIFIL deputy force commander is Major General Chok Bahadur Dhakal of Nepal, which has deployed 858 of its troops in Lebanon.