Residents of south Lebanon are deeply concerned that the planned withdrawal of Irish peacekeepers will trigger increased Israeli aggression, a senior Irish officer has said.
Lieut Col Edward McDonagh, commanding officer of the Defence Forces peacekeeping battalion assigned to Unifil in Lebanon, said he has met the mayors of all 14 villages in the Irish area of operations.
“It’s the same message I’m getting from all of them: they are concerned. They’re worried that when Unifil go, this will embolden the [Israel Defense Forces] to act even further.”
He said Israeli forces were already violating the existing ceasefire on a daily basis.
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