No peace to keep? Israel pressures United Nations in Lebanon

François PICARD | Andrew HILLIAR | Rebecca GNIGNATI | David MAKOVSKY | Ahron BREGMAN | Lynn TEHINI | John LYNDON

Edité par France 24 - 2024

Israeli forces are releasing drone footage purporting to show a Hezbollah position that is literally a stone's throw away from a UNIFIL base. What is the UN's job when Hezbollah fires rockets for 11-plus months out of a zone that is supposed to be the reserve of the Lebanese army? What does the world body do when Israel asks the peacekeepers to get out of the way?

There is a broader issue: UN bashing is a pretty safe sport, particularly when a permanent Security Council member like the United States has your back, but what is the alternative? Binyamin Netanyahu may score political points at home for slapping a travel ban on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, but what are the actual consequences?

Produced by Andrew Hilliar, Rebecca Gnignati and Ilayda Habip. 

Note
  • They are called peacekeepers, but what is their mission when they cannot keep the peace? The United Nations, along with the 40 nations that contribute UNIFIL blue helmets to monitor the buffer zone in south Lebanon, is condemning the growing standoffs with Israel's invading army that have culminated in a tank ramming the gates of an observation post on Sunday. We hear about the fallout and comment on the counterargument.

Langue
anglais
Date de publication
14/10/2024
Collection
The Debate
Contributeurs
David MAKOVSKY Ziegler Distinguished Fellow and Director of the Koret Project on Arab-Israel relations at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Ahron BREGMAN Senior teaching fellow, Department of War Studies, King’s College London
Lynn TEHINI Franco-Lebanese journalist
John LYNDON Executive Director, Alliance for Middle East Peace

Consulter en ligne

Suggestions

Du même auteur

How will Israel respond?

| François PICARD | 2024

First, the pager attacks of two weeks ago on Hezbollah command became a bombing campaign that triggered the mass displacement of Lebanese civilians. Then came signs of growing incursions into Lebanon and now direct confrontation o...

Can Israel ignore the pressure? International...

| François PICARD | 2024

That war could last another seven months, says a top official in Binyamin Netanyahu's government. Israeli citizens are also traumatised by October 7 and its aftermath, but are not seeing the same images as the rest of the wor...

Grim anniversary, forever war? October 7 and ...

| François PICARD | 2024

On the anniversary of the Hamas-led October 7 attacks, at a time when public opinion in Israel supports the widening of the campaign into Lebanon and retaliation against Iran, we put some simple questions to a panel that instead w...

The Trump effect: How much does populism driv...

| François PICARD | 2024

So why – despite all the initial excitement around Kamala Harris, despite charges that include trying to overturn an election – is he still ahead in the polls going into Tuesday’s night’s debate against the vice president?The Demo...

Better inside or out? Venezuela's opposition ...

| François PICARD | 2024

How about the leader of the opposition coalition, Maria Corina Machado? The conservative – who was barred from running – insists she is staying put in Venezuela, all the while playing hide-and-seek with authorities who are also th...

Uncertainty in Iran: What next after presiden...

| François PICARD | 2024

We ask about the crash and the challenges ahead for Iran.Then there are the country's 88 million citizens. Will they get involved? Since Raisi was elected in 2021, the regime has stared down the massive "women, life, freedom" prot...

Red carpet diplomacy: What's Macron's message...

| François PICARD

The last time that Macron hosted Xi, he invited then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel to join the talks alongside the European Commission president. This time, Ursula von der Leyen is in Paris, but not Olaf Scholz. We ask why and w...

Coalition of the reluctant? Germany's Merz el...

| François PICARD | 2025

A hastily organised second round cancelled out what history may decide to be just a blip. But still, why did Merz fall six seats short in the first secret ballot? Who rebelled inside what now seems like a fragile coalition between...

Why Romania's MAGA surge? Far-right Simion ta...

| François PICARD | 2025

Simion – whose party sits in the same voting bloc as Giorgia Meloni's in the European Parliament – skipped the usual victory speech at campaign headquarters to instead air a pre-recorded message where he pledged allegiance to bann...

Chargement des enrichissements...