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India on Friday expressed concern at the deteriorating security situation along the Blue Line, which separates Lebanon and Israel since the 1970s, and said inviolability of UN premises must be respected by all.
The Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that appropriate measures must be taken to ensure the safety of UN peacekeepers and the sanctity of their mandate. "We are concerned at the deteriorating security situation along the Blue Line. We continue to monitor the situation closely," MEA said commenting on the recent developments in Southern Lebanon. "Inviolability of UN premises must be respected by all, and appropriate measures taken to ensure the safety of UN peacekeepers and the sanctity of their mandate," the staement added. Israeli forces allegedly fired at at a watchtower in the UNIFIL headquarters in southern Lebanon, leaving two Indonesian peacekeepers injured. UNIFIL was created by the Security Council in March 1978 following Israel's "invasion" of Lebanon. The UN peacekeeping mission UNIFIL has been operating along the "Blue Line" which separates Lebanon and Israel since the 1970s, and its mandate was renewed in August for another year by the UN Security Council. Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000. In the absence of an agreed border, the UN identified a 120km line of withdrawal known as the Blue Line, which UNIFIL monitors and patrols. UNIFIL - the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon - said on Thursday that two peacekeepers were injured when an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower at the force's headquarters in the border area town of Naqoura, causing them to fall, Al Jazeera reported. UNIFIL condemned the attack, calling it a "grave violation of international humanitarian law." The peacekeeping organisation, which consists of about 10,000 peacekeepers from 50 countries and was established in 1978, said Israeli forces had "deliberately" fired at its positions along the border. UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix warned that concerns are mounting for the safety of United Nations peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon amid Israel's ground incursion. Briefing the UN Security Council on Thursday, Lacroix described hostilities between Israeli forces and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon as "increasingly alarming," and putting "peacekeepers at serious risk," CNN reported. "The safety and security of peacekeepers is now increasingly in jeopardy." In the escalating conflict in Middle East, Israel has continued to expand its strikes across Lebanon. At least 22 people were killed and around 117 were left wounded in Israeli strikes on Thursday on a densely populated Beirut neighborhood, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. (ANI)
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