US defense chief expresses concerns to Israeli counterpart about attacks on UN peacekeeping positions

WASHINGTON

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin voiced concern about Israel’s attacks on UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) positions in southern Lebanon during a telephone call Saturday with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Israeli attacks this week injured at least five UN peacekeepers and two Lebanese soldiers.

Austin "expressed his deep concern about reports that Israeli forces fired on UN peacekeeping positions in Lebanon as well as by the reported death of two Lebanese soldiers," Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said in a statement.

"The Secretary strongly emphasized the importance of ensuring the safety and security of UNIFIL forces and Lebanese Armed Forces and reinforced the need to pivot from military operations in Lebanon to a diplomatic pathway as soon as feasible," it said.

The defense secretary also raised the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip during the call and stressed that steps must be taken to address it.

"The Secretary reaffirmed the United States' unwavering, enduring, and ironclad commitment to Israel's security. He acknowledged Yom Kippur and the need to bring back all hostages to their families as soon as possible," said the statement.

Israel has mounted massive airstrikes across Lebanon against, what it claims, Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing at least 1,411 victims, injuring more than 3,970, and displacing an excess of 1.34 million.

The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of its offensive on Gaza, in which Israel has killed nearly 42,200 victims, most of them women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

Despite international warnings that the Mideast was on the brink of a regional war amid Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, it expanded the conflict by launching an incursion into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1.