Latest Middle East news: Israel sends planes to Amsterdam after ‘violent incident’

UN peacekeepers in Lebanon (UNIFIL) have in some cases been deliberately targeted by Israeli forces, UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix has just told us.

UNIFIL forces have faced a series of Israeli attacks on their peacekeepers this month, with the Israeli government demanding they abandon their positions in southern Lebanon.

Talking about Peace with Yalda HakimMr Lacroix said: “In some cases we saw clear signs of deliberate attacks.”

“But I would not say that all attacks or all incidents were deliberate,” he added.

“In some cases we still have to investigate.”

Earlier today, the Austrian Defense Ministry said eight soldiers from the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon were injured in a rocket attack on Naqoura, a city in southern Lebanon.

“In some cases, we don’t have hard data that clearly points to deliberate attacks,” Mr. Lacroix said.

“In some cases, yes, we have these elements. I mean, recently, about a week ago, there was a UNIFIL observation post there that was destroyed there by an IDF bulldozer.

“And we have video. I mean this was clearly a deliberate attack.”

UNRWA ban ‘extremely troubling’

Mr Lacroix also called Israel’s ban on UN aid agency UNRWA “extremely worrying” as the group is “absolutely essential” to providing humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian population.

Yesterday’s parliamentary decision is expected to severely limit the aid team’s work in Gaza and the West Bank, access to which is controlled by Israel.

“So effectively banning UNRWA, preventing UNRWA from operating and providing humanitarian assistance to this population, especially at this time, is really extremely concerning,” he said.