Days after Israeli forces repeatedly fired on the headquarters of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Tel Aviv’s unprecedented rhetoric toward the UN has sparked a diplomatic row between France and Israel.

Since the war on Gaza began last October, the Israeli government has consistently undermined various UN bodies, banning officials and killing staff members. Former British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has labeled this campaign a “war on the UN.” The situation has become so severe that even French President Emmanuel Macron has publicly condemned it.

Israel has spent the past year desecrating international law on live TV.

Now it is waging war on the UN itself, including 10,000 peacekeepers from 50 countries stationed in Lebanon.

What will it take for the UK to end its military, economic & diplomatic support for Israel?

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) October 13, 2024

On October 11, Israeli artillery fire struck the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) headquarters in the town of Naqoura for the second time in 48 hours. The attacks injured two UN officers.

While UNIFIL and 40 nations strongly condemned the strikes, Israel defended its actions, claiming they targeted Hezbollah fighters in the area, though it provided no evidence to support this assertion.

On October 13, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement directed at the UN Secretary-General, saying, “Your refusal to evacuate UNIFIL soldiers has turned them into hostages of Hezbollah.”

In response, UNIFIL reminded Israel of its obligations under international law and firmly refused to withdraw from southern Lebanon.

PM Netanyahu: “I appeal to the UN Secretary General; Your refusal to evacuate UNIFIL soldiers has turned them into hostages of Hezbollah.”

Full remarks >>https://t.co/YOUp2Yvw20 pic.twitter.com/tfSGX83bwr

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) October 13, 2024

In early October, Israeli authorities declared UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres persona non grata, banning him from entering the country—an unprecedented move. However, barring UN officials from Israel is not new. In December of last year, United Nations Special Humanitarian Advisor Lynn Hastings was expelled from Israel, followed by the denial of visas to other UN staff members.

UNIFIL’s mandate provides for its freedom of movement in its area of operations, and any restriction on this is a violation of resolution 1701.

We have requested an explanation from the IDF from these shocking violations.

— UNIFIL (@UNIFIL_) October 13, 2024

In January, Israeli authorities prohibited doctors from speaking to UN investigators who were gathering information on the Hamas-led October 7 attack. Then, in February, Israel banned UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Territories, Francesca Albanese, from entering the country.

Israel also leveled a series of allegations against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), accusing its staff of participating in the October 7 attacks. These claims resulted in the withdrawal of support from various Western nations, which had been the primary financial backers of UNRWA, the most crucial aid agency in Gaza, amid an impending famine.

When Israel’s six-page dossier was eventually released to the media, the UK’s Channel 4 News exposed the claims as baseless.

Despite the spurious nature of the allegations against UNRWA, the Biden administration has suspended funding to the agency until March 2025. The allegation have also led some Western media outlets to question the accuracy of the UN’s reported Gaza death toll, which is compiled with assistance from the territory’s Health Ministry, often reffered to by the BBC as the “Hamas-run Health Ministry.”

Since October of last year, Israel has killed more than 230 UN workers, making the war in Gaza the deadliest conflict for UN staff in the organization’s history.

In September, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), referring to it as a “UN house of darkness.” He criticized the body, calling it a “swamp of antisemitic bile” and describing the General Assembly as an “anti-Israel flat-earth society.”

When the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, recently warned Netanyahu not to forget that “his country was created by a UN decision”, referring to UNGA resolution 181, the Israeli PM fired back and claimed that Israel was born out of the war of 1948 instead.

While Israel argues that it can disregard the numerous UN General Assembly resolutions condemning its actions, calling for a ceasefire, and demanding an end to its occupation—citing their “non-binding” nature—it does not have the same flexibility with other UN bodies.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s top judicial body, issued provisional measures against Israel after accepting South Africa’s case, which argues that genocide is being carried out in the Gaza Strip. Additional provisional measures were later issued to prevent further violations of international law by Israel. In response, Israel labeled the ICJ as anti-Semitic and has worked to delegitimize the extensive body of UN-sourced evidence presented to the World Court by South Africa.

In March, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted Resolution 2728, calling for a ceasefire until the end of Ramadan. Israel violated the resolution and, once again, responded by accusing the council of anti-Semitism. Unlike UN General Assembly resolutions, UNSC resolutions are binding. However, with support from the Biden administration, Israel attempted to argue that the resolution was not binding and subsequently ignored it.

Whether by undermining the credibility of the UN’s experts and bodies, discouraging funding for its aid efforts, banning officials, or harming its workers, the Israeli government has extended its war efforts to target the United Nations. These actions have now drawn the ire of European nations.

Feature photo | A UN Italian peacekeeping soldier monitors the situation across the Lebanese-Israeli border from his post in the southern Lebanese border village of Aalma El Chaeb, Lebanon, September 2024. Marwan Naamani | AP

Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and hosts the show ‘Palestine Files’. Director of ‘Steal of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe’. Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47

The post Israel’s War on the UN: Over 230 UN Workers Killed as Tensions Soar appeared first on MintPress News.