Israel to UNIFIL in South Lebanon: Your Security Cannot Be Guaranteed

Armored vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol in the town of Khiam in southern Lebanon on December 23, 2024, under a delicate ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
Armored vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol in the town of Khiam in southern Lebanon on December 23, 2024, under a delicate ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
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Israel to UNIFIL in South Lebanon: Your Security Cannot Be Guaranteed

Armored vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol in the town of Khiam in southern Lebanon on December 23, 2024, under a delicate ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
Armored vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol in the town of Khiam in southern Lebanon on December 23, 2024, under a delicate ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

The Israeli army warned the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon that their safety cannot be guaranteed in the border town of al-Taybeh.

Israeli troops have been burning and searching houses in the town in violation of the ceasefire agreement reached with Hezbollah on November 27.

Deputy Director of UNIFIL’s Media Office Candice Ardell told Lebanon’s National News Agency that “the Israeli Defense Forces informed UNIFIL that the safety of peacekeepers cannot be guaranteed in the vicinity of Taybeh, and that patrols should avoid this area.”

Ardell stressed that “the safety of peacekeepers is a top priority, and we will not do anything that exposes them to any unnecessary risk.”

The Israeli military also reminded UNIFIL of its obligations under UN Security Council Resolution 1701 to ensure the safety of peacekeepers and guarantee their freedom of movement throughout UNIFIL's area of operations in southern Lebanon.

On Sunday morning, the Israeli army blocked the road between al-Taybeh and Deir Seryan and deployed forces there, reported the NNA.

The agency said on Saturday that the forces were searching the houses in the town and setting them on fire.

Residents of the town of al-Qantara were also forced to flee after the troops made an incursion there and burned homes.

The incursion took place as the forces carried out a sweep of neighborhoods in al-Taybeh, al-Qantara, Adshit al-Qsair and Deir Seryan.

Retired General Hassan Jouni said the warnings to UNIFIL are part of a new Israeli strategy aimed at widening its incursions in southern Lebanon.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Israeli troops managed to enter al-Taybeh after the ceasefire took effect. The troops had failed to do so twice during the war with Hezbollah, so they are effectively taking advantage of the ceasefire to make these incursions, he explained.

Once the forces enter these areas, they search for Hezbollah infrastructure and destroy them in a bid to create a buffer zone, he added.

By addressing UNIFIL, they are saying that their deployment in the South is not preventing the incursions, he remarked.

“This is a threat and a warning because UNIFIL may thwart the Israeli advance. So they may come under threat from Israel,” Jouni said.

Moreover, it appears that the Israeli forces will remain in areas they entered in the south well after the 60-day ceasefire is over, he noted.



UN Appalled by Extrajudicial Killings in Khartoum

A Sudanese army soldier gestures from the back of a vehicle as it drives past damaged cars lying along a street in Khartoum on Thursday (AFP photo) 
A Sudanese army soldier gestures from the back of a vehicle as it drives past damaged cars lying along a street in Khartoum on Thursday (AFP photo) 
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UN Appalled by Extrajudicial Killings in Khartoum

A Sudanese army soldier gestures from the back of a vehicle as it drives past damaged cars lying along a street in Khartoum on Thursday (AFP photo) 
A Sudanese army soldier gestures from the back of a vehicle as it drives past damaged cars lying along a street in Khartoum on Thursday (AFP photo) 

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Thursday said he was appalled by reports of widespread extrajudicial killings of civilians in Khartoum following its recapture by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) on 26 March.

“I am utterly appalled by the credible reports of numerous incidents of summary executions of civilians in several areas of Khartoum, on apparent suspicions that they were collaborating with the Rapid Support Forces,” said Turk.

He then urged the commanders of the Sudanese Armed Forces “to take immediate measures to put an end to arbitrary deprivation of life.”

The UN Commissioner said his Office has reviewed multiple horrific videos posted on social media since 26 March, all of them apparently filmed in southern and eastern Khartoum.

“They show armed men – some in uniform and others in civilian clothes – executing civilians in cold blood, often in public settings. In some videos, perpetrators state that they are punishing supporters of RSF,” he said.

The RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has been battling the army, led by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, since April 2023.

Last week the army said it had retaken full control of Khartoum after weeks of attacks on the capital by the paramilitaries, though Daglo said his forces had only “repositioned.”

On Thursday, Sudan's paramilitary said they downed an Antonov military plane, the fourth this month, belonging to the Sudanese army near Al Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur State.

The RSF published a video that they said showed the plane wreckage. It said in a statement that the plane dropped “dozens of barrel bombs on innocent civilians in Al Fasher and other Sudanese cities.”

Meanwhile, an activist group said that the RSF killed at least 85 people in one week during attacks south of the capital Khartoum.

“For the seventh consecutive day, the Janjaweed militias continue their violent attacks on villages... west of Jebel Awliya, resulting in the deaths of more than 85 people and the injury of dozens,” said the Sudanese resistance committee, referring to the RSF by the name of its precursor.

Bashir’s Deputy Released

Also on Thursday, Sudanese authorities released former First Vice President Bakri Hassan Saleh and Youssif Abdel Fattah, a former minister.

Saleh and Abdel Fattah are among some 30 officials who are standing trial for their involvement in the June 30, 1989 coup, that brought former Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir to power.

SAF leader Abdel Fattah al Burhan issued the decision based on a judicial ruling that stated the two men need to receive treatment due to deteriorating health conditions.