The Israeli demand for an expanded mandate for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) allowing UN peacekeepers to operate independently of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) is being viewed as ‘impracticable’ by the the Indian Army.

Israel raised this demand last week after UNIFIL troops raided a suspected Hizbullah arms cache on June 18 in the absence of the LAF and ran into a gun battle in which 14 UN peacekeepers were injured. Israel’s concern is that the UNIFIL’s operational coordination with the LAF results in the covering-up of evidence of Hizbullah rearmament. Israel would like UNIFIL forces to have a more robust mandate and exercise operational independence.

India, however, considers such a mandate impractical. “UNIFIL is a foreign force. How can we deploy without any local support or cooperation?” asks one senior official who preferred to remain anonymous. He added, “Once we start operating independently, we would probably be completely bereft of local support. UNIFIL could then be end up in the position of fighting Israel’s war in Lebanon.” Sources have informed StratPost that the acceptance of such an enhanced mandate would also be a political decision as it would have increased ramifications for Indian peacekeepers operating in Lebanon.

According to the Jerusalem Post: ‘On Saturday (June 18), Lebanese villagers prevented UN peacekeepers from searching an abandoned building near the suspected weapons depot, a Lebanese security official said. The official said dozens of men in Bir e-Salasel surrounded UNIFIL vehicles and ordered the peacekeepers to leave. 14 UNIFIL men were wounded in the incident. When the troops called for backup, the villagers fired at the reinforcements’.

While the Hizbullah claims the discovered arsenal was the remnant of an old cache of explosives, Israel says the cache is evidence of Hizbullah rearming.

Israel had also last week accused Indian peacekeepers belonging to UNIFIL of allowing Lebanese nationals to intrude into Israeli territory, a charge India denies.

The Indian Army has denied any lapses or wrong-doing on the part of Indian peacekeepers who are part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) after allegations were raised last week by the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Gabriela Shalev. In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, she complained of inaction on the part of the Indian peacekeepers in preventing 15 Lebanese from illegally crossing into Israel and waving Hizbullah flags.

The Jerusalem Post quoted the letter as saying, “[The demonstrators] stood opposite the UNIFIL force, [which did nothing,] and worse than that, according to statements made by the organizers of the demonstration, they even cooperated with them.”

According to sources, the incident relates to post 4-31 in the Kafr Shouba Hills at the Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon near Baathaiil Lake. On June 8 this year, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had constructed a Tank Firing Position in the vicinity of the post, following which the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) reciprocated and constructed a similar position of their own on June 16.

The Indian peacekeepers belonging to UNIFIL then mediated and got both sides to vacate those positions. But on June 17 at 1100 hours local time, some 30 civilians crossed the Blue Line from Lebanon, five of whom planted the Lebanese and Hizbullah flags at the Israeli position.

The Indian contingent, collectively known as INDBATT, then diffused the situation through mediation and got the demonstrators to withdraw. The Indian Army asserts that the actions of the Indian peacekeepers was in conformity with UNIFIL Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). The Indian contribution to UNIFIL consists of three units amounting to a brigade.