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Israel Says Hezbollah Using UN Troops in Lebanon as Human Shields as UNIFIL Refuses to Leave Combat Zones
UN peacekeepers (UNIFIL) vehicles drive in Marjayoun, near the border with Israel, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, southern Lebanon, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Karamallah Daher
United Nations peacekeepers will stay in all positions in Lebanon despite Israeli warnings that Hezbollah is weaponizing their presence in the Iran-backed terrorist organization’s war against the Jewish state.
“The decision was made that UNIFIL [the UN Interim Force in Lebanon] would currently stay in all its positions in spite of the calls that were made by the Israel Defense Forces [IDF] to vacate the positions that are in the vicinity of the Blue Line,” UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix said on Monday.
Lacroix’s announcement came after Italy, Britain, France, and Germany earlier in the day condemned what they described as Israeli attacks on the UN’s peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, calling them violations of international humanitarian law and demanding an immediate halt.
In a joint statement, the nations emphasized the “essential stabilizing role” of UNIFIL in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah wields significant influence and has been fighting Israeli forces, and urged Israel to guarantee the peacekeepers’ safety.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forcefully rejected accusations that Israel deliberately attacked UNIFIL personnel as “completely false.”
“It’s exactly the opposite. Israel repeatedly asks UNIFIL to get out of harm’s way. It repeatedly asked them to temporarily leave the combat zone, which is right next to Israel’s border with Lebanon,” he said.
UNIFIL appeared to rebuff Netanyahu’s calls to evacuate with Lacroix’s latest statement. However, the Israeli premier hasn’t been the only one warning of how Hezbollah was using the UN presence in Lebanon to its advantage.
Lieutenant Colonel (Res.) Sarit Zehavi, a resident of northern Israel and the founder and director of Alma — a research center that focuses on security challenges relating to Israel’s northern border — said that Hezbollah was using UNIFIL troops as human shields.
“UNIFIL troops are deemed non-combatants like the rest of the Lebanese population, and not an enemy. Every commander in the IDF knows this,” Zehavi told The Algemeiner.
Israel’s one mistake, she said, was agreeing in the aftermath of the 2006 Second Lebanon War to the deployment of 10,000 UNIFIL troops in southern Lebanon.
“It’s outrageous that UNIFIL is not enabling us to do what it was supposed to do in the past 18 years,” she said. “They are risking their lives for nothing. I hope they’ll come to their senses and withdraw, as requested.”
Israel has asked that the peacekeepers retreat five kilometers, or 3.1, miles north of the border, to stay out of the line of fire.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon on Sunday echoed similar sentiments.
“Hezbollah terrorists are using UNIFIL outposts as hiding places and as places of ambushes. The UN’s insistence on keeping the UNIFIL soldiers in the line of fire is incomprehensible,” said Danon.
The Lebanese terrorist group has launched more than 10,000 rockets into Israel since Oct. 8 of last year, a day after Hamas’s attack in Israel’s south, including more than 1,000 UAVs, one of which killed four Israelis on Sunday and wounded 70 more.
“For 18 years, UNIFIL personnel ignored the Hezbollah bases along the border and did not report any UN Resolution 1701 violations, which states that only the Lebanese army is allowed to operate in the area,” Danon said.
A UNIFIL report released on Monday about IDF incursions in the area raised concerns for Zehavi, who questioned the group’s effectiveness even as a monitoring entity. The report notably omitted any mention of the munitions and tunnels uncovered by the IDF just meters from UNIFIL posts.
“In almost every home that is in open areas, and under every tree, the IDF finds munitions,” she said. “It is clear that UNIFIL knew what was happening.”
Zehavi said that much of the problems arose when examining UN Resolution 1701, adopted in 2006 after the Second Lebanon War, which mandated a buffer zone free of armed groups and to prevent the area from being used for hostile activities. She questioned the division of responsibility in two seemingly contradictory articles of the resolution between UNIFIL and the Lebanese army in securing the area between Israel’s border and the Litani River.
“Who’s to ensure that this area is not used for all these purposes by a terrorist organization? Is it UNIFIL or the Lebanese army?” Zehavi asked, adding that at this point, “it doesn’t really matter.”
“Neither of them implemented the mandate, and from day one, Hezbollah deceived the whole world and continued rebuilding its terrorist activity in southern Lebanon,” she explained.
In the future, UNIFIL’s mandate should be limited to serving as mediator and capped at 1,000 personnel, Zehavi said. But she also called for another coalition to enter southern Lebanon, one that would be “willing to clash with Hezbollah.”
The key issue, Zehavi said, is that it’s impossible to fully implement UN Resolution 1701 as long as Hezbollah is not seen as an “illegitimate entity” within Lebanon. She argued that while Hezbollah operates both as a political party in Lebanon’s Parliament and government and as a massive social movement, the terrorist group essentially functions as a “state within a state,” with parallel civilian infrastructures that provide services to the population, thereby securing widespread support.
Despite the IDF’s successes in targeting Hezbollah’s munitions and rocket depots, Alma estimates that Hezbollah still retains around 50,000 mortars with ranges of up to 10 kilometers. Additionally, there are about 25,000 Grads and other mid-range rockets capable of reaching distances between 30 to 80 kilometers. For longer ranges of 80 to 200 kilometers, Hezbollah is believed to have around 2,000 rockets. However, Zehavi acknowledged that there are no current estimates for how many long-range missiles Hezbollah may still have in its arsenal.
Zehavi outlined four types of tunnels built by Hezbollah, each serving a specific function. The first type, border crossing tunnels, are meant to infiltrate Israel, with a recently discovered tunnel extending just a few dozen meters from Lebanon into the Israeli community of Zarit. Its opening shaft was discovered only dozens of meters away from a UNIFIL watchtower.
The second type is tactical tunnels, which link homes and strategic points in southern Lebanon. These tunnels were originally designed to facilitate Hezbollah’s invasion plans and defend against IDF incursions. Hezbollah’s plan to invade Israel — which included abductions — was “copy-pasted” by Hamas, she said.
In practice, since Hezbollah shelved plans for an invasion, the terrorist group has mainly used those tunnels to avoid direct combat, instead attacking from a distance with anti-tank missiles and mortars.
The third type, known as strategic tunnels, form a vast network stretching hundreds of kilometers, and are supported by Iran and North Korea. These tunnels are used to transport launchers and military personnel across Lebanon, from Beirut to the south and from the Lebanese-Syrian border.
Lastly, explosive tunnels are specifically designed to target IDF forces, with the intent of causing significant damage as Israeli units advance.
Beyond the fighting in Lebanon, Zehavi also described Iran’s recent massive missile attack on Israel as a declaration of war and called on Israel and its allies to attack Iran’s nuclear program.
Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and IDF Chief of Staff Herzl Halevi held a secret meeting on Sunday night at the headquarters of the Military Intelligence Directorate near Tel Aviv to discuss the country’s planned retaliation against Iran, according to Ynet.
The last such secret meeting reportedly occurred right before the Israeli airstrike last month that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The post Israel Says Hezbollah Using UN Troops in Lebanon as Human Shields as UNIFIL Refuses to Leave Combat Zones first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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As Gaza War Continues, Hamas Calls for Global Protests While Israel Marks Breakthroughs in Medical Innovation
A pro-Hamas march in London, United Kingdom, Feb. 17, 2024. Photo: Chrissa Giannakoudi via Reuters Connect
As the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas calls for global protests amid stalled Gaza ceasefire talks, Israel has broken new ground despite the ongoing conflict, achieving a major medical breakthrough in synthetic human kidney development.
The contrast illustrates a stark contrast between the priorities of Hamas, an international designated terrorist group that has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, and Israel, the lone democracy in the Middle East that has long been a leader in tech and medical innovation.
On Wednesday, Hamas urged worldwide protests in support of Palestinians, calling on the international community “to denounce Israel’s genocidal war and starvation policy in Gaza.”
“We call for continuing and escalating the popular pressure in all cities and squares on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday … through rallies, demonstrations and sit-ins outside the embassies of the Israeli regime and its allies, particularly in the US,” the statement read.
The Palestinian terrorist group also called to expose what it described as “the terrorism of the Zio-Nazi occupation against defenseless civilians.”
Hamas’s latest move against Israel comes amid stalled indirect negotiations over a proposed 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal, which collapsed last month after the group vowed it would not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is established — rejecting a key Israeli demand to end the war in Gaza.
In its statement, Hamas demanded the opening of all border crossings to allow immediate aid into the war-torn enclave and urged a global condemnation of “the international community’s inaction on the Israeli crimes.”
Amid mounting international pressure to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Israel announced new measures to facilitate the delivery of aid, including temporary pauses in fighting in certain areas and the creation of protected routes for aid convoys.
Israeli officials have previously accused Hamas of diverting aid for terrorist activities and selling supplies at inflated prices to civilians, while also blaming the United Nations and other foreign organizations for enabling this diversion.
Hamas’s statement also emphasized that the “global resistance movement must continue until Israeli aggression on Gaza ends and the siege on the coastal strip is lifted.”
Meanwhile, as Israel faces escalating hostilities and the heavy toll of war, the Jewish state continues to push the boundaries of innovation and resilience, achieving new medical breakthroughs while confronting ongoing challenges.
In a major medical breakthrough, scientists at Sheba Medical Center and Tel Aviv University have successfully grown a synthetic 3D miniature human kidney in a lab using specialized stem cells derived from kidney tissue — one of the most promising advances in regenerative medicine.
Dr. Dror Harats, chairman of Sheba’s Research Authority, described this achievement as a reflection of Israel’s leading role in global medical innovation.
“Despite growing efforts to isolate Israel from international science, breakthroughs like this prove our impact is both lasting and essential,” he said.
In a landmark study, a team from Sheba’s Safra Children’s Hospital and Tel Aviv University’s Sagol Center for Regenerative Medicine created synthetic kidney organs that matured and remained stable for 34 weeks — the longest-lasting and most refined kidney organoids developed to date.
Nearly a decade ago, the research team became the first to successfully isolate human kidney tissue stem cells — the cells responsible for the organ’s development and growth.
Previous attempts to grow kidneys in a lab using general-purpose stem cells were short-lived, typically lasting only a few weeks and often producing unwanted cell types that compromised research accuracy.
However, this Israeli research team used stem cells taken directly from kidney tissue — cells that naturally develop into kidney parts — allowing them to create a much purer and more stable model with key features found in real kidneys.
This medical breakthrough could have far-reaching implications, redefining the current understanding of kidney diseases and advancing the development of innovative treatments.
Researchers believe the model could help assess how medications impact fetal kidneys during pregnancy and move science closer to repairing or replacing damaged kidney tissue with lab-grown cells.
The discovery came days after researchers from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and international partners discovered a way to boost the immune system’s cancer-fighting ability by reprogramming how T cells, which are white blood cells critical to the immune system, produce energy.
The researchers explained in a study published in the peer-reviewed Nature Communications that disabling a protein known as Ant2 in T cells greatly enhances their effectiveness against tumors.
“By disabling Ant2, we triggered a complete shift in how T cells produce and use energy,” Prof. Michael Berger of Hebrew University’s Faculty of Medicine, who co-led the study with doctorate student Omri Yosef, told the Tazpit Press Service. “This reprogramming made them significantly better at recognizing and killing cancer cells.”
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Netherlands to Push EU to Suspend Israel Trade Deal but Won’t Recognize Palestinian State ‘At This Time’
Netherlands Foreign Affairs Minister Caspar Veldkamp addresses a press conference, in New Delhi on April 1, 2025. Photo: ANI Photo/Sanjay Sharma via Reuters Connect
The Netherlands is spearheading efforts to suspend the European Union-Israel trade agreement amid rising EU criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza, while simultaneously refusing to recognize a Palestinian state, contrasting with other member states as international pressure mounts.
On Thursday, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp announced that the Netherlands will push the EU to suspend the trade component of the EU-Israel Association Agreement — a pact governing the EU’s political and economic ties with the Jewish state.
This latest anti-Israel initiative follows a recent EU-commissioned report accusing Israel of committing “indiscriminate attacks … starvation … torture … [and] apartheid” against Palestinians in Gaza during its military campaign against Hamas, an internationally designated terrorist group.
Following calls from a majority of EU member states for a formal investigation, this report built on Belgium’s recent decision to review Israel’s compliance with the trade agreement, a process initiated by the Netherlands and led by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas.
According to the report, “there are indications that Israel would be in breach of its human rights obligations” under the 25-year-old EU-Israel Association Agreement.
While the document acknowledges the reality of violence by Hamas, it states that this issue lies outside its scope — failing to address the Palestinian terrorist group’s role in sparking the current war with its bloody rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Israeli officials have slammed the report as factually incorrect and morally flawed, noting that Hamas embeds its military infrastructure within civilian targets and Israel’s army takes extensive precautions to try and avoid civilian casualties.
In a Dutch parliamentary debate on Gaza on Thursday, Veldkamp also announced that the government would not recognize a Palestinian state for now — a position that stands in sharp contrast to the recent moves by several other EU member states to extend recognition.
“The Netherlands is not planning to recognize a Palestinian state at this time,” the Dutch diplomat said.
“This war has ceased to be a just war and is now leading to the erosion of Israel’s own security and identity,” he continued.
This latest decision goes against the position of several EU member states, including France, which has committed to recognizing Palestinian statehood in September.
The United Kingdom has likewise indicated it will do so unless Israel acts to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and agrees to a ceasefire.
For its part, Germany said it was not planning to recognize a Palestinian state in the short term, and Italy argued that recognition must occur simultaneously with the recognition of Israel by the new entity.
Spain, Norway, Ireland, and Slovenia all recognized a Palestinian state last year.
Israel has been facing growing pressure from several EU member states seeking to undermine its defensive campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.
On Thursday, European Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera strongly condemned Israel’s actions in the war-torn enclave, describing the situation as a “grave violation of human dignity.”
“What we are seeing is a concrete population being targeted, killed and condemned to starve to death,” Ribera told Politico. “If it is not genocide, it looks very much like the definition used to express its meaning.”
Until now, the European Commission has refrained from accusing Israel of genocide, but Ribera’s comments mark one of the strongest European condemnations since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
She also called on the EU to take decisive action by considering the suspension of its trade agreement with Israel and the implementation of sanctions, while emphasizing that such measures would require unanimous approval from all member states.
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Graduate Student Unions Promoting Antisemitism, Reform Group Says
Students listen to a speech at a protest encampment at Stanford University in Stanford, California US, on April 26, 2024. Photo: Carlos Barria via Reuters Connect.
Higher-education-based unions controlled by United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) are rife with antisemitism and anti-Zionist discrimination, according to a new letter imploring the US Congress’s House Committee on Education and the Workforce to address the matter.
“Tracing its roots to communism in the 1930s, the UE is a radical, pro-Hamas labor union that has a long history of antisemitism,” the National Right to Work Foundation (NRTW), one of the US’s leading labor reform groups, wrote on July 30 in a message obtained by The Algemeiner. “The UE openly supports the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which is designed to cripple and destroy Israel economically. Today, the UE furthers its antisemitic agenda by unionizing graduate students on college campuses and using its exclusive representation powers to create a hostile environment for Jewish students. The hostile environment includes demanding compulsory dues to fund the UE’s abhorrent activities.”
NRTW went on to describe a litany of alleged injustices to which UE members subject Jewish student-employees in the US’s most prestigious institutions of higher education, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to Cornell University. At MIT, the letter said, “union officers” aided a riotous group which illegally occupied a section of campus with a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” participating in the demonstration and even denying access to campus buildings. UE members at Stanford University, meanwhile, allegedly denied religious accommodations to Jewish students who requested exemption from union dues over that branch’s supporting the BDS movement. And Cornell University UE was accused of denying religious exemptions in several cases as well and followed up the rejection with an intrusive “questionnaire” which probed Jewish students for “legally-irrelevant information.”
The situation requires federal oversight and intervention, NRTW said, including Congress’s possibly clarifying that student-employees are not traditional employees and are therefore afforded protections under sections of the Civil Rights Act which apply to the campus.
“These continuing patterns of antisemitism are illegal, immoral, and must be stopped,” the letter continued. “We encourage you to do all that is in your power to investigate and help bring an end to the UE and its affiliates’ nonstop harassment and intimidation of Jewish students … The Trump administration can also use tools available to it under Title VI and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act against colleges who work with unions to create a hostile environment for Jewish students.”
July’s letter is not the first time NRTW has publicized alleged antisemitic abuse in unions representing higher education employees.
In 2024, it represented a group of six City University of New York (CUNY) professors, five of whom are Jewish, who sued to be “freed” from CUNY’s Professional Staff Congress (PSC-CUNY) over its passing a resolution during Israel’s May 2021 war with Hamas which declared solidarity with Palestinians and accused the Jewish state of ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and crimes against humanity. The group contested New York State’s “Taylor Law,” which it said chained the professors to the union’s “bargaining unit” and denied their right to freedom of speech and association by forcing them to be represented in negotiations by an organization they claim holds antisemitic views.
That same year, NRTW prevailed in a discrimination suit filed to exempt another cohort of Jewish MIT students from paying dues to the Graduate Student Union (GSU). The students had attempted to resist financially supporting GSU’s anti-Zionism, but the union bosses attempted to coerce their compliance, telling them that “no principles, teachings, or tenets of Judaism prohibit membership in or the payment of dues or fees” to the union.
“All Americans should have a right to protect their money from going to union bosses they don’t support, whether those objections are based on religion, politics, or any other reason,” NRTW said at the time.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.