UN Building Hit in Lebanon. UN, AP blame Israel. Yawn.
We can't exactly figure out whether we want to accuse the AP of making up this source or just wearily point out that of course UN employees reflexively blames Israel. But anyway, here it is:
A United Nations-run observation post just inside Israel was struck during fighting between Israel and Hizbullah operatives on Friday. The army blamed Hizbullah rockets, but a UN officer said it was an artillery shell fired by the IDF. A UN officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said an artillery shell fired by the IDF "impacted a direct hit on the UN position overlooking Zar'it." The post is part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. But an IDF spokesman said the position, located just inside Lebanon, was hit by rockets fired by Hizbullah that fell short of their targets in northern Israel...
The mission of UNIFIL, which has nearly 2,000 military personnel and more than 300 civilians, is to patrol the border line, known as the Blue Line, drawn by the United Nations after Israel withdrew.
Israel better watch out. If this happenes 20 or 30 more times, sentiment in the UN might turn against Israeli self-defense. Also, screw UNIFIL:
An Israeli commander at the Lebanese border recalls peering through binoculars one afternoon to see U.N. peacekeepers sipping tea with Hizbollah guerrillas... Israel and the United Nations have rarely seen eye to eye, and the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), created in 1978, has been a frequent flashpoint in relations. "Dysfunctional and a failure" is the way the force was characterized by one Foreign Ministry spokesman. Some Israeli leaders accuse UNIFIL of providing legitimacy to Hizbollah, allowing it to build up arms while turning a blind eye when Israeli soldiers were seized at the border in 2000.
If by "turning a blind eye" Reuters means "UNIFIL filmed the entire thing then hid the tape from the Israelis so that they wouldn't be able to tell if the soldiers were alive or dead" then yeah, that's about right.
A United Nations-run observation post just inside Israel was struck during fighting between Israel and Hizbullah operatives on Friday. The army blamed Hizbullah rockets, but a UN officer said it was an artillery shell fired by the IDF. A UN officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said an artillery shell fired by the IDF "impacted a direct hit on the UN position overlooking Zar'it." The post is part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. But an IDF spokesman said the position, located just inside Lebanon, was hit by rockets fired by Hizbullah that fell short of their targets in northern Israel...
The mission of UNIFIL, which has nearly 2,000 military personnel and more than 300 civilians, is to patrol the border line, known as the Blue Line, drawn by the United Nations after Israel withdrew.
Israel better watch out. If this happenes 20 or 30 more times, sentiment in the UN might turn against Israeli self-defense. Also, screw UNIFIL:
An Israeli commander at the Lebanese border recalls peering through binoculars one afternoon to see U.N. peacekeepers sipping tea with Hizbollah guerrillas... Israel and the United Nations have rarely seen eye to eye, and the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), created in 1978, has been a frequent flashpoint in relations. "Dysfunctional and a failure" is the way the force was characterized by one Foreign Ministry spokesman. Some Israeli leaders accuse UNIFIL of providing legitimacy to Hizbollah, allowing it to build up arms while turning a blind eye when Israeli soldiers were seized at the border in 2000.
If by "turning a blind eye" Reuters means "UNIFIL filmed the entire thing then hid the tape from the Israelis so that they wouldn't be able to tell if the soldiers were alive or dead" then yeah, that's about right.
