Israel vs. UN

Image by Irish Defence Forces from Ireland, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.jpg)

On October 10, 2024, an Israeli tank fired at the headquarter of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in the town of Naqoura on the Israeli-Lebanese border, injuring two peacekeepers. They fell from the roof of an observation tower. Both are Indonesian citizens, and both are alive. In addition, the Israeli military struck two other UNIFIL objects (1-31 and 1-32A) nearby. As a result, peacekeepers' vehicles and communication equipment were damaged.

And on October 9, Israeli soldiers prudently struck and disabled on-site monitoring cameras prior to their attack on object 1-31.

This is not a declared war yet, but the main idea is easy to see: UN peacekeepers are preventing the Israeli army from conducting a ground operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Reaction to the event.

The UN expressed protest. The UN undersecretary general for peace operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix stated that safety of the UN peacekeepers in Lebanon is increasingly at risk, with their operational activities virtually at a standstill since September, 23. The peacekeepers are confined to their bases and spend much of their time in shelters due to Israeli military activities.

Many countries (not only the countries participating in the peacekeeping mission in Lebanon) also expressed their indignation and concern over Israel's actions. Interestingly, the governments of China, India and Turkey also joined in, which is rare. They all also declared that Israel was violating international laws.

The US has a separate position on this matter: the American authorities understand that the Israelis are conducting targeted operations against Hezbollah and are asking «that they not threaten UN peacekeepers’ safety and security.»

Israeli military explained that Hezbollah operated in southern Lebanon near populated areas and often near UNIFL posts, so they warned UN peacekeepers every time they needed to take cover in shelters. The Israelis even recommended that the peacekeeping forces move north a little «while the situation along the Blue Line remains volatile as a result of Hezbollah aggression.»

UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said they rejected the offer. “We decided we need to continue to fly the U.N. flag… This is our mandate, and although that mandate has been heavily challenged, it is important to send the signal that we are staying,” he explained.

UN peacekeepers in Lebanon fail to fulfill their mission.

There are about 10 thousand of the UN peacekeepers there from 48 countries. The UN spends a lot of money for keeping them in Lebanon - the budget for the "blue helmets" for 2022-23 was about $510 million, and now it is probably even bigger.

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) is a Washington, DC-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on American national security and foreign policy. Here's what they think about UNIFIL in short:
- UNIFIL was established in 1978 to end war, restore peace and security.
- Despite UNIFIL’s presence, Hezbollah’s military infrastructure dominates southern Lebanon.
- UNSC (UN Security Council) Resolution 1701 expanded UNIFIL after a 2006 Hezbollah kidnapping triggered war.
- UNIFIL’s mandate requires southern Lebanon up to the Litani River be exclusively peaceful.
- Hezbollah has repeatedly fired into Israel from UNIFIL’s area of operations.
- The LAF (Lebanese Armed Forces ) hinders UNIFIL’s ability to monitor Hezbollah’s activities in south Lebanon.
- UNIFIL’s mandate remains unfulfilled despite annual renewals, periodic upgrades.
- Hezbollah leadership incites against UNIFIL.
- UNIFIL peacekeepers have been killed or injured in areas controlled by Hezbollah.
- The US contributes substantial sums to sustain UNIFIL – with insufficient return on investment.

This is, of course, the American point of view and not the ultimate truth, but in this case the assessment can be trusted - UNIFIL fails to do its job well in Lebanon. And now they are prevented from fulfilling their mission by the militant Israelis.

The UN is unhappy with Israel's actions. And Israel is unhappy with the UN's inaction.

Israel considers UN peacekeeping in Lebanon a “toothless mission, preoccupied with monitoring small border violations rather than preventing militants from entrenching themselves in the south.”
David Mencer, a spokesperson for Israel’s National Public Diplomacy Directorate, recently called the UN's actions in Lebanon «an abject failure» and said that UNIFIL’s “purpose was to ensure that Hezbollah did not exist between the Litani River and our southern border… They’ve never fulfilled that task.”

In this case, it becomes clear why the Israelis themselves want to secure their northern border. They do not rely on the UN and, as experience shows, they are right. The UN has turned into a completely useless, purely advisory organization with a huge budget of $3.59 billion for 2024. This was clearly visible, for example, during the coronavirus pandemic in the world.

The UN is a dying organization.

The news about the shelling of peacekeepers in Lebanon simply shocked me. I was sure that it was impossible: soldiers of a UN member state are shooting in the direction (for now) of soldiers sent by the UN to prevent war. And the UN can do nothing about it, just as it can’t make peacekeepers to fulfill their mandate. So the Israelis are solving their problem themselves as best they can.
It turns out that even the presence of “blue helmets” on the territory of a country does not protect it against aggression from another country. The UN with its Сharter, peacekeeping, justice, international laws - all this is fiction.

Yes, unfortunately. The UN as an international institution has completely outlived its usefulness and no one takes it into account. Different countries use it for now as a «high tribune» to promote their special opinion at the global level. And since the opinions of different countries are different and often mutually exclusive, there is no interaction in the Security Council, but just opposition and, as a result, paralysis.
The UN is paralyzed and needs reform, even its top officials demand that. The behavior of Russia and Israel, whether right or wrong, forces the UN to do something practical and thereby challenges the very existence of the UN. It must begin to cleanse itself by punishing and expelling countries that violate the UN Charter or dissolve itself. The UN's predecessor, the League of Nations, also failed to prevent World War II, but it was able to expel then very strong USSR in 1939 for unleashing a war against Finland.

I think that the UN is not capable of self-purification (or anything at all) and many countries will simply stop paying their considerable contributions for such a “tribune” soon.
By its inaction, the UN only worsens the mess in the world and accelerates its own collapse.


I have already written earlier that the energy of disintegration was actively manifesting now in everything in the world - from the family to the state. The first to cease to exist will be impotent and useless international organizations like UN, NATO, WTO and others. This process is gaining momentum.

Well, Israel, under the leadership of its Prime Minister B. Netanyahu, is going its own way - against everyone, including the UN, but not against the US. Probably because the US has thoughtlessly supported all of Israel's initiatives so far.

Let me remind you, that recently the UN General Assembly demanded that Israel withdraw its troops from Palestine within a year. The resolution was based on a July advisory opinion from the UN's highest court that said Israel was occupying the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip against international law. The US, Israel and 12 more countries voted against this decision, but 124 other countries voted for it. The resolution was adopted, but it is still a pure declaration and nothing will change in lives of the Palestinians.


P.S. After such news from Lebanon and resolutions by the UN General Assembly, a question involuntarily comes to mind: maybe all these people who are protesting in many countries against the war in the Gaza Strip and aid to Israel are actually right?