UN Peacekeepers Under Attack in Lebanon!

Over the last week, Israel has directly targeted the positions of UN Peacekeepers in Lebanon. Several peacekeepers have been injured, but none killed—yet. By attacking these positions, outposts, and headquarters, Israel is undermining the principle of the inviolability of UN peacekeepers, that is: UN Blue Helmets who are deployed at the behest of the Security Council are not legitimate military targets. Deeper still, diplomats have been feverishly working on a plan to de-escalate hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, the center of which is an expanded role for UNIFIL. The real tragedy of these ongoing attacks against UNIFIL is that they are undermining the one entity that can provide an off-ramp to further escalation in Lebanon and throughout the region. The path to de-escalation runs through UNIFIL. But for the moment, UNIFIL is, very literally, in the path of Israeli tanks.