Vienna to fulfill peacekeeping mandate in Lebanon: Minister

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The European Union foreign ministers on Monday called for the cessation of Israeli attacks on peacekeepers in Lebanon, reiterating that the bloc will not withdraw “blue helmets” from the war-torn country.
 
"We have reached out to our Israeli friend to make our position very clear. No, that we will not withdraw; yes, that we will continue to fulfill their mandate," Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg told reporters ahead of an EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg.

"We demand on each and every party to respect this mandate and respect the security and safety of our blue helmets, which have to be ensured at each and every occasion,” said Schallenberg.
 
The European Union on Monday slammed Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon that have injured the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers as “completely unacceptable” and urged Israel to stop such attacks.

“The 27 member states agreed on asking Israelis to stop attacking UNIFIL. Many European members are participating in this mission. Their work is very important. It is completely unacceptable attacking [sic] United Nations troops,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters.

UNIFIL is a mission of about 9,500 troops created to ensure peace in southern Lebanon after the Israeli invasion of 1978. It has accused Israel of “deliberate” attacks.

Israeli attacks on Lebanon’s pro-Iran Hezbollah group have injured at least five peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, according to the UN.

Israeli bombardments have killed 2,255 people and injured 10,524 others in Lebanon since last October, according to data compiled by the Lebanese health ministry. Nearly a quarter of the population, 1.2 million people, has been displaced, Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in early October.

Borrell also said that humanitarian aid to Gaza is “at the lowest level since the beginning of the war” with Israel since October of last year, when Palestinian Hamas militants launched an attack on Israel, killing over 1,100 people. This prompted a full-blown Israeli response on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 42,227 people, according to the Palestinian health ministry. 

Rekar Aziz in Erbil and Zinar Shino in Luxembourg contributed to this article.

Photo corrected at 9:48 p.m.