President Biden Would Very Much Like Israel to Stop Shooting at Blue Helmets in Lebanon

If not, UNIFIL may collapse -- and that would be very bad

“US President Joe Biden has said he is ‘absolutely, positively’ urging Israel to stop firing at UN peacekeepers during its conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon,” writes the BBC on October 11.

And yet, the hits keep coming.

On October 16, an Israeli tank shot down a peacekeeping watchtower. On October 24, an Israeli bulldozer destroyed a UNIFIL observation post. And now, the Financial Times reports that several peacekeepers suffered injuries after being exposed to white phosphorus, an incendiary chemical agent fired from Israeli tanks. (This was one of a dozen incidents included in a leaked report from a country that contributes troops to the peacekeeping mission.)

One of the recurring themes of US-Israel relations since October 7 is the frequency with which the Biden administration—including President Biden himself—issues public rebukes of Israeli actions that Israel subsequently ignores. For the most part, this falls under the remit of the complicated and longstanding bilateral relations…