Israel bulldozes part of Irish peacekeeper camp

Israeli forces used excavators and a bulldozer to destroy part of a fence and concrete structure at an Irish peacekeeping position in southern Lebanon.

The 10,000-strong UN mission, known as Unifil, is stationed in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the “blue line” separating Lebanon from Israel.

Soldiers from the 26 County Army maintain a base on behalf of Unifil, which has come under attack for a second time.

Unifil released a video which showed Israeli forces wrecking the perimeter of the Irish base.

“The IDF’s deliberate and direct destruction of clearly identifiable Unifil property is a flagrant violation of international law,” they said.

There was no comment from the 26 County government, other than a confirmation that all “personnel deployed in Lebanon are well and accounted”.

The United Nations Human Rights Office also revealed on Friday nearly 70 per cent of the fatalities it has verified in the Gaza genocide are women and children. It also condemned what it called a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.

In its latest attack, Israel burned the Mahdia Educational School affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which was sheltering hundreds of displaced people in the northern Gaza Strip.

The UN breakdown of the victims’ age and gender backs the Palestinian assertion that women and children represent a very large portion of those killed in the war, and that schools have been systematically targeted. The ages most represented among the dead are 5- to 9-year-olds, the report said.

Ajith Sunghay, Head of the UN Human Rights Office for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, told reporters that the UN was still struggling to document the “massive” number of deaths.

As Israeli military propagandists have expanded their disinformation campaign in support of its genocide in Gaza, the Irish nation and its diaspora continues to fight back against Israel and its allies.

Football fans at a Glasgow Celtic FC match in Scotland chanted in protest at the “hypocrisy” of a ‘Remembrance Day’ tribute, holding up banners to read: “From Balfour to Starmer, the crimes of the empire live on, Britain is committing genocide in Gaza.”

A statement from ‘North Curve Celtic’, a Celtic fans group, explained: “Today, on Armistice Day, we highlight the hypocrisy and shame of the British establishment and others who selectively mourn the loss of life and fail to support an armistice to the ongoing genocide in Palestine.”

In Belfast, a new mural, titled ‘Unbowed - Unbroken’ has been dedicated to show Irish solidarity with the Palestinian people, while a former IRA hunger striker and an ex-British soldier have linked up to take part in a 24-hour fast to raise funds for those impacted by the Israeli atrocities.

Belfast hip hop trio Kneecap are among the headline acts for next month’s Gig for Gaza in London, while on Sunday, a second ‘Descend on Shannon’ protest takes place against the use of Irish airports and airspace for the supply of arms to the Israeli military.

In a statement, People Before Profit called on the Dublin government to stop munitions being flown through Irish airspace, and also drew attention to the Central Bank’s facilitation of the sale of Israeli war bonds.

“These bonds are raising funds for bombs which murder and main,” they said.

“People Before Profit wants the Irish government to pursue a policy of active neutrality.

“By this, we mean one which opposes the colonial ambitions of the big powers who seek to carve up the world into ‘spheres of influence’.”

Urgent Appeal