Turkey has joined growing condemnation of Israel’s attacks targeting the UN peacekeepers in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
Israeli attacks against UNIFIL in recent days, amid the war in Gaza and the cross-border clashes with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, have wounded UN staff and prompted international alarm.
Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon said Israel recommended UNIFIL relocated north in Lebanon “to avoid danger as fighting intensifies”.
But Turkey’s foreign ministry said: “Israel’s attacks on UN forces, following its massacres against civilians in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon is a manifestation of its perception that its crimes go unpunished.
“The international community is obliged to ensure that Israel abides by international law.”
Meanwhile, UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix told the Security Council that the safety of more than 10,400 UN peacekeepers in Lebanon was “increasingly in jeopardy”.
He said operations had virtually halted since late September, coinciding with Israel’s escalation of its conflict with Lebanon.
UNIFIL called attacks on peacekeepers “a grave violation of international humanitarian law.”
Turkey has been fiercely critical of Israel’s offensives in Gaza and Lebanon.
It has halted all trade with Israel, applied to join a genocide case against Israel at the World Court, and repeatedly called for an end to Western support of Israel along with international measures to stop its assaults.