Israeli official makes defamatory claims about UN peacekeepers

Close on the heels of Israel attacks on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, an Israeli Cabinet minister on Monday make defamatory remarks about the peacekeeping group, falsely claiming that it serves as "a shield" for Lebanese group Hezbollah instead of acting as an impartial force.

On X, Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen claimed the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has not ensured the enforcement of UN resolutions, and also "serves as a shield" for Lebanese group Hezbollah and is an "an Iranian proxy."

Cohen also said it is time for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to respond to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Sunday request to withdraw the peacekeepers from southern Lebanon.

Israeli tanks on Sunday forced entry into one of UNIFIL's positions, in the latest in a series of violations and attacks by the Israeli military which have injured several peacekeeping troops.

Last week, four UNIFIL peacekeepers were injured by Israeli army's shelling on their posts in southern Lebanon.

On Saturday, all 40 countries contributing to the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon "strongly" condemned the Israeli attacks and called for an investigation.

UNIFIL was established as interim force in 1978 to help restore peace in the region and as a confirmation of Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.

Israel has mounted massive airstrikes across Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing over 1,500 people and injuring more than 4,500 others, and displacing more than 1.34 million.

The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of its offensive on the Gaza Strip, in which Israel has killed nearly 42,300 people, most of them women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

Despite international warnings that the Mideast was on the brink of a regional war amid Israel's relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, it expanded the conflict on Oct. 1 by launching a ground incursion into southern Lebanon.