Irish troops to stay in Lebanon despite ‘reckless’ Israeli attacks – Chief of Staff

Irish troops to stay in Lebanon despite ‘reckless’ Israeli attacks – Chief of Staff

Irish troops will stay in Lebanon “for now” despite Israel’s “reckless” behaviour, the Defence Forces’ Chief of Staff has vowed. Irish troops are stationed in southern Lebanon as part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) mandate and concern has been raised about their safety and access to supplies- although officials have assured the public that the soldiers are “well stocked with fresh food”. Yesterday, two non-Irish peacekeepers were injured in a reported Israeli attack and on The Pat Kenny Show, Chief of Staff Seán Clancy described it as a “fluid environment”. “We have Israelis incurring right across the entirety of the blue line in Lebanon,” he said. “The blue line [that divides Israel from Lebanon] is about 124 km in length and UNIFIL are mainly based in southern Lebanon – which is where they are mandated to be. “There’s nearly 10,000 UNIFIL forces in that area and quite extensive engagement has been occurring over the blue line – in particular in the last week.” No Irish troops have been hurt so far but Lieutenant General Clancy said the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) are operating “in the vicinity” of their Camp Shamrock base. “We have seen an escalated level of engagement towards the west of Lebanon in the Italian Battalion area,” he said. “We’ve seen some – what I would suggest is – reckless, intimidatory actions by Israel against UN posts.” Lieutenant General Clancy added there is a huge sense of “unity” among the nations that make up UNIFIL and troops are determined to stay put. “There’s a very strong sense of solidarity in terms of our mandate to stay where we are – for now,” he said.