Simon Harris, the prime minister of Ireland, called on Israel on Saturday to address “the concerns of the international community” and refrain from resuming its recent firing on UN soldiers stationed in southern Lebanon.
“Israel must stop firing on UN peacekeepers serving with UNIFIL in Lebanon,” Ireland’s leader said in a statement, his latest comments on the recent incidents that have sparked a fierce diplomatic backlash.
“Israel must listen to the voice and the concerns of the international community,” he added.
347 of the 10,000 soldiers participating in UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon tasked with preserving stability in the country’s south, are from Ireland.
Israel acknowledged that two Blue Helmets had been injured as a result of a “hit” and said that its soldiers had fired at a threat close to a UNIFIL station in Lebanon on Friday.
The mission said that the two Sri Lankan peacekeepers suffered injuries at UNIFIL’s main station in Naqura, southern Lebanon.
According to the mission, it comes after two Indonesian soldiers were hurt by tank fire that struck a watchtower the day before.
According to the Irish Defence Forces, nobody on the team was injured in the incident on Thursday.
In the statement, Harris added that he and US President Joe Biden “agreed that those who serve in Blue Helmets on behalf of the UN must always be afforded full protection.” Harris had visited Biden earlier in the week.
