[News] Netanyahu calls on UN troops to evacuate south Lebanon as Hezbollah resistance to Israeli invasion stiffens

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Netanyahu calls on UN troops to evacuate south Lebanon as Hezbollah
resistance to Israeli invasion stiffens

Hezbollah fighters injured and killed 20 Israeli soldiers in ambushes early
Sunday

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

OCT 13, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/netanyahu-calls-on-un-troops-to-evacuate-south-lebanon-as-hezbollah-resistance-to-israeli-invasion-stiffens
(Photo credit: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on UN Interim Forces in
Lebanon (UNIFIL) to evacuate the border between Israel and Lebanon on 13
October, amid ongoing resistance by Hezbollah fighters to Israel's ongoing
ground operation.

Addressing UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Netanyahu said Sunday in
a Hebrew-language message
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/pm-un-must-withdraw-south-lebanon-peacekeepers-from-combat-zone-hezbollah-using-them-as-human-shield/>,
"It is time for you to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and from
the areas of combat."

"The IDF has repeatedly asked for this, and has been met with repeated
refusals, all aimed at providing a human shield to Hezbollah terrorists,"
says Netanyahu.

"Your refusal to evacuate the UNIFIL soldiers makes them hostages of
Hezbollah," says Netanyahu. "This endangers both them and the lives of our
soldiers."

Israel has endangered <https://thecradle.co/articles-id/27241> the lives of
UNIFIL soldiers on several occasions in the past week.

On Friday, UNIFIL soldiers were injured, one of them critically, after an
Israeli tank opened fire at one of the international mission's observation
towers in Naqoura, south Lebanon.

On Thursday, at least two other UN soldiers were injured by an Israeli
attack.

On Tuesday, Hezbollah ordered <https://thecradle.co/articles-id/27196> its
fighters not to attack Israeli forces who established a forward operating
base behind UN troops near a Lebanese border village, effectively using
them as human shields.

The Israeli attacks on UNIFIL personnel came as Hezbollah fighters put up
fierce resistance to Israel's ongoing ground operation to conquer territory
in southern Lebanon.

*Al-Mayadeen's* correspondent in South Lebanon reported
<https://english.almayadeen.net/latestnews/2024/10/13/al-mayadeen-s-correspondent-in-south-lebanon--more-than-20-i>
Sunday morning that more than 20 Israeli soldiers were killed and injured
in ambushes and confrontations with Hezbollah fighters in Ramia.

In a series of statements, Hezbollah confirmed its fighters targeted
gatherings of Israeli soldiers in multiple attacks near Ramya using guided
missiles and explosive devices.

After nearly two weeks of combat, Hezbollah has killed 14 Israeli soldiers,
according
<https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20241012-very-challenging-israel-faces-hezbollah-in-tricky-terrain>
to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

As Israel seeks to invade Lebanon for the fourth time in 50 years, its
troops face a well-trained, well-armed, and highly-motivated Hezbollah
force operating in rocky terrain mined with explosives and full of hiding
places.

Jonathan Conricus, who previously fought with the Israeli army in Lebanon
and served as an Israeli liaison officer to UNIFIL, told AFP, "The
topography is very challenging for an invading force and convenient for an
enemy like Hezbollah."

"The terrain also allows multiple ways for a defending enemy to use
anti-tank missiles and IEDs against a conventional army," he added,
referring to improvised explosive devices.

In his final speech days before his assassination, late Hezbollah
secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel about the dangers of
trying to invade and occupy parts of southern Lebanon.

"This security belt will turn into a quagmire, a trap, an ambush, an abyss,
and hell for your army if you want to come to our land," he warned on 19
September.
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