Israel's Netanyahu urges UN to withdraw peacekeepers from southern Lebanon

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday urged the United Nations to withdraw its UNIFIL peacekeeping force from southern Lebanon.

"Mr. Secretary-General, get the UNIFIL forces out of harm's way," Netanyahu said in a public video statement, addressing UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"It should be done right now, immediately," Netanyahu added.

Netanyahu claimed that the presence of UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) forces in southern Lebanon makes them "hostages of Hezbollah," the Lebanese armed group and political party with which Israel has been engaged in conflict since last October.

The prime minister expressed regret over the incident last week in which Israeli forces injured two UNIFIL soldiers in southern Lebanon. "We are doing everything possible to prevent this harm," he said.

On Friday, UNIFIL condemned the attack on peacekeepers as "a grave violation of international humanitarian law and Security Council Resolution 1701," stating that such incidents place UN peacekeepers in "extremely grave danger."

Since early October, the Israeli military has conducted targeted ground operations against Hezbollah positions near the Lebanese border, while intensifying airstrikes and artillery bombardments across Lebanon, particularly in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold.