UN chief calls for accountability after attack on peacekeepers in Lebanon

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asserted that the safety and security of UN personnel and property must be respected at all times. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday condemned an attack a day earlier on a UN base in southern Lebanon that seriously wounded three Ghanaian UN peacekeepers. The Lebanese president has accused Israel of targeting them and the UN peacekeeping force has said it will investigate.

“The secretary-general condemns the incident on Friday, March… in Al Qawzah, southwestern Lebanon, amidst heavy firing,” Guterres’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “The Secretary-General underscores that the safety and security of UN personnel and property must be respected at all times, and that those responsible must be held accountable.

The inviolability of UN installations must be respected by all.” The attack occurred during an exchange of fire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah. The international UN peacekeeping force has acted as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon since 1978. On Friday, the UN demanded swift investigations into waves of fatal Israeli strikes across Lebanon.

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Dujarric said the UN urged the parties to the conflict “to de-escalate immediately and fully adhere to their obligations under (UN) Security Council resolution 1701”. The UN resolution was designed to end a conflict in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah. It served as the basis for a ceasefire agreement in 2024 between Hezbollah and Israel.

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