Irish Defence Forces must continue to hold the blue line in Lebanon |
With two Indonesian peacekeepers killed this week as Israel continues its military assault on Lebanon, the situation facing Irish peacekeepers serving with the United Nations peacekeeping mission, Unifil, is increasingly perilous. There has been what Taoiseach Micheál Martin described as a “shocking escalation of violence that has injured a number of peacekeepers in recent days”.
With little peace left to keep, is it time for the Irish Government to withdraw our Defence Forces?
Responding to Martin on X, former defence minister Alan Shatter called this week for the withdrawal of Irish Unifil troops, along with peacekeepers from other states, saying: “Nothing beneficial can be achieved by their remaining in harm’s way.”
A withdrawal wouldn’t be unprecedented: Irish forces have previously been withdrawn from UN missions in the Golan Heights (Syria), Mali, East Timor, Congo, Somalia and Liberia when mandates concluded or changed.
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Over the last month, Israel has resumed military attacks on Southern Lebanon, with the aim of ousting Hizbullah militants, leading to sporadic missile attacks in the besieged region. The carefully patrolled blue line – a 120km boundary between Israel and Lebanon established in 2000 as a line of withdrawal following the retreat of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory – is a flash point for conflict between the two sides. Unifil, comprising 7,505 peacekeepers including 358 Irish soldiers, monitors a fragile peace along this boundary. When violations of the blue line occur, the mission can deploy additional troops to contain the situation to prevent escalation between Lebanese and Israeli armed forces.
In many respects therefore, Unifil is a traditional peacekeeping mission which has established a buffer zone between two warring sides, and in which the role of Irish troops has been crucial. Last Sunday, Irish forces came to the aid of a Polish soldier injured in a bomb attack when the vehicle he was travelling in was hit by an explosive device en route to Camp Shamrock, where the Irish-Polish battalion is based.
However, since 2024 Israel has repeatedly violated the blue line, sending missiles into Lebanon and leading excursions with ground troops with the stated intention of destroying Hizbullah. In return, the Shia militant group has led a series of missile attacks on Israel. The conflict has been devastating, with almost 1,000 killed, nearly one million people internally displaced, and a humanitarian crisis in Lebanon – an already fragile state. More broadly, the clashes mark a further intensification in the war across the Middle East, a region beset with crises.
Irish peacekeepers have served with Unifil since 1978 – an unbroken record, with 30,000 Irish troops deployed to the blue line over time. In this role, lightly armed infantry units, mandated only to use force in self defence, have played an important role in protecting civilians, engaging in de-escalation and patrolling the boundary zone. As tensions have escalated, so have the dangers. In 2022, Private Sean Rooney was killed when Hizbullah attacked a UN convoy heading for Beirut airport. His death brings to 47 the number of Irish soldiers killed as part of the mission.
The stakes for Irish Defence Forces serving with Unifil are considerable. On one hand, the Government needs to consider the growing danger posed to the remaining troops.
[ Are Irish peacekeepers at risk in Lebanon as Israel targets Hizbullah in war on Iran?Opens in new window ]
The Government is preparing legislation to remove the triple-lock, which requires a UN Security Council mandate for Irish troops to serve abroad. Given that even when a mandate exists the safety of peacekeepers cannot be guaranteed, Government arguments that there is a need for greater flexibility for the Defence Forces to be deployed abroad without a UN seal of approval may not get widespread support from the public.
But against this is the wider reputation Ireland enjoys as a troop-contributing country at the UN and beyond, and the political capital that has been generated around this status. The Government is campaigning for Ireland to be elected to the UN Human Rights Council at the end of the year. Withdrawing from one of the UN’s main peacekeeping operations would seem to fly in the face of wider Irish commitments towards protecting human rights. If our Defence Forces cannot do so, even when they are trained specifically for this purpose, what would be the value of Irish voices clamouring for human rights causes, especially at a time of deafening silence in the face of grievous human rights abuses being perpetrated around the world?
Withdrawing Irish troops would not be setting a precedent – it has happened before. However, given the integrated nature of the Unifil mission, the perilous situation faced by all troops and the enormous pressure on the UN to hold the blue line, closing Camp Shamrock, a central operational hub in the wider mission, could destabilise the mission as a whole. It would also further diminish the already dismal reputation of the UN in being able to keep any peace at all.
Given that the mission is scheduled to be concluded in December, Irish troops should continue their essential role. If we are serious about our peacekeeping role, then commitment to the principles of sustaining peace in practice is important.
For many, Irish neutrality is also important here. One of the unique features of Irish peacekeepers is their ability to use military force to sustain positions of neutrality, a direct demonstration of what Irish military neutrality means in practice. We should maintain the Defence Forces with Unifil also as a statement of our commitment to neutrality, as a guiding principle of internationalism. What better way to exemplify why neutrality is important than by implementing this principle in a mission that has saved thousands of lives?
In a wider geopolitical context of escalating conflict, and growing militarisation, someone must stand up for peace. Irish troops have a stellar record in this area. To withdraw now would be to undermine the important work that has been done, signalling further to Israel that the UN, and the international community, will not hold them to account. Now is the time to hold the line.
Professor Alanna O’Malley is chair of Global Governance and Wealth at Erasmus University in Rotterdam.