In the year 2006 Israel went to war with Hezbollah to stop their incursions into their country. After a brief but intense conflict that lasted a month, a UN brokered cease-fire known as Resolution 1701 was declared and Israel proceeded to withdraw their forces under the condition that Hezbollah withdraw from Southern Lebanon in order to ensure that Israel would be out of range of their rockets. It was the duty of the UN to ensure that Resolution 1701 was enforced & that personnel be left be hind to see to this task. This was done and that Southern Lebanon become fully de-militarized, but this has not been done.
In 2018, representatives from UN Watch joined teams on the ground and observed as the IDF was proceeding to destroy four terror tunnels leading from Southern Lebanon into Israel, in flagrant violation of UN Resolution 1701. The Tunnels that were found were even more sophisticated then the extensive tunnels used by Hamas to invade Israel on Oct. 7th. 2023. Whereas the Hamas Tunnels only go through sand & dirt, the Hezbollah tunnels must go through rock, requiring significant finances & careful planning, all of which has been supplied to Hezbollah by Iran. Making matters worse, the entrance to one of these tunnels was found in the home of a Lebanese civilian who either willingly agreed to assist Hezbollah, or was forced by the terrorist group to allow them to dig their tunnel under his home. It was the duty of UNIFIL to ensure that these tunnels were never dug in the first place, yet it was revealed six years ago that the UNIFIL was not doing their duty, and yet nothing was done about it.
Now, six years later, Israel is taking heat worldwide for going into Southern Lebanon once again to oust Hezbollah from the region. This is despite the fact that Hezbollah began carrying out rocket attacks against Northern Israeli communities immediately after the Oct. 7th attack, killing over 50 people, damaging over 1000 homes, & forcing the evacuation of over 60,000 Israel citizens. As the Israeli forces advanced Prime Minister Netanyahu advised the UNIFIL to withdraw for their own safety, once again prompting condemnation from the International Community. Yet within days of Netanyahu’s warning, IDF forces discovered a Hezbollah Terror Tunnel less than 200 meters from a UN Facility!
In a recent video the IDF is shown leading the Press around a UN facility in Lebanon overlooking Israel. Less than 200 meters from this facility the IDF shows the Press a terror tunnel along with stockpiles of guns, anti-tank missiles, explosives, & combat uniforms, clearly illustrating that Hezbollah had been preparing an attack for quite some time. It can take months, even years to dig out a terror tunnel in this terrain & it’s unfathomable that this was going on without the anyone at the nearby UN facility knowing about it. Instead of condemning Israel for going into the region & advising UNIFIL personnel to get out of harms way, the International Community should be demanding a full investigation as to how the UNIFIL could have been allowing this to go on for so many years despite irrefutable proof that Hezbollah was highly active in the region despite the fact that it was a direct violation of UN Resolution 1701. The fact that Hezbollah was doing this right next to a UN Facility not only shows that an investigation is an absolute necessity, but that Netanyahu should be praised for warning the UNIFIL ahead of the IDF entering the area.