IN THE HILLSIDE village of Tibnine in South Lebanon is a small monolith monument to the 48 Irish soldiers who have been killed peacekeeping in the country since they first arrived 46 years ago.
The monument is amidst a cedar grove and ancient watchtower and looks out over rolling hills of arid ground which spread southwards towards the contested Israeli border.
Once a month, Irish troops come from nearby Camp Shamrock to hold a ceremony to remember their comrades who never made it back home.
The names of the fallen who are commemorated are read out; the most recent is Private Seán Rooney, who was killed in a suspected Hezbollah ambush in 2022.
Their deaths caused in action or in accidents or in kidnappings with Israeli forces, Hezbollah, AMAL, or local militias aligned to Israel or to Lebanese factions.
Irish peacekeepers have had an almost uninterrupted run in the area despite an unending series of skirmishes and wars between Israel, Lebanon and disparate groups of revolutionaries and extremists.
Irish troops are deployed to the area under UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
UNIFIL is Ireland’s largest overseas deployment as part of a joint Irish and Polish Battalion, including a contingent from Hungary and Malta.
The mission was established through a United Nations Security Council resolution that was passed to compel Israel to withdraw from Lebanon in the wake of their 1978 invasion of the country.
They pulled out briefly in the early 2000s as the Israelis withdrew under a UN agreement. But the Irish returned following the Israeli invasion in 2006.
The agreement has not stopped further invasions and blood-letting; such episodes are almost a given in the area, where fighting over the land bordering the Mediterranean Sea has been a feature since the time of the Phoenicians after 3,000 BC.
The difference now is that the United Nations has deployed a massive international military presence of 10,500 troops from 50 countries to monitor both sides.
The towns and villages they patrol are a patchwork of various sects and alliances – some Christian, some Muslim, but all living on contested ground whose borders were drawn by colonial British, French and Ottoman occupiers.
Speaking to experienced soldiers who have served in UNIFIL their read on the situation in the country is that Lebanon perpetual crises is informed by identity of those who live there being more about their local area than a full nation as decided upon by its occupiers. In the Irish context it would be loyalty to the Parish or the village than the Irish state.
The ultimate goal for UN forces is to maintain the Blue Line, a withdrawal line along what has become the de facto Lebanese/Israeli border, which was established in 2000 as Israel withdrew after another incursion and occupation.
The line is clearly visible in the area, a line of blue UN liveried barrels which mark it out.
Resolution 1701 is intended to stop Hezbollah striking Israel, and for the Israeli Defence Forces not to set foot on sovereign Lebanese ground. Both Israel and Lebanon have signed up to the agreement, and both sides agree to the peacekeepers’ presence in the area – but Hezbollah would likely say that they have not.
If violence or an invasion occurs, as has happened this week, then this agreement has been breached and the UN Security Council must take action.
However, the likelihood of sanctions for breaches of the resolution is practically non-existent, in part because of the unwillingness of big powers to take action.
Many tasks are fulfilled as part of UNIFIL, including a naval patrol, a French air radar monitoring centre and other activities.
Irish troops are tasked with patrolling the Blue Line, and ultimately their role is to record and inform the UN of any breaches or potential activity that could be classed as such.
They are also involved in a community outreach operation, in which they build and finance local infrastructure for residents in the war-torn region.
Known as CIMIC (Civil Military Co-operation), this outreach sees troops attend events in local communities and plan building projects to increase much needed civil services.
There have also been occasions where Irish troops in white Mowag armoured personnel carriers have left their base to assist people who have been injured.
Once such incident in November 2023 involved an Israeli attack on a group of journalists who were filming artillery strikes in south Lebanon, near Alma al-Shaab.
The current deployment of Irish soldiers sees them team up with Polish colleagues, and they are based in three bases across the region.
They are in United Nations Post (UNP) 2-45 which is the main base known as Camp Shamrock near the town of At Tiri.
There is an outpost to the south known as UNP 6-52 where a smaller group of Irish are based just a few hundred metres from the Israeli border.
The third location is UNIFIL Headquarters on the picturesque seaside at Naqoura, where the Irish monitor a plot of land known as Sector West with other countries, including Fijian troops.
Tensions in the area are often lethal, including for peacekeepers.
The murder of Irish troop Seán Rooney was highly publicised when it occurred in 2022, but six Spanish troops were also among those killed in an explosion in recent years.
There has also been an uptick in violence in the aftermath of Hamas’ 7 October attack on Israel. Hezbollah has launched rockets into Israel and fired anti-tank weapons at IDF vehicles. In return Israel has bombed parts of the south near Irish bases and escalated no to Israeli boots on the ground and attacks in Beirut.
That has led Ireland to increase its troop numbers to 340 in April, a detachment which included members of the Army Ranger Wing.
Sources have said the role of the extra troops is in ensuring that convoy security is maintained, that force protection duties are increased and that communication systems are effective in the hilly area.
As the violence has escalated, questions have been asked at home repeatedly whether the Irish should leave Lebanon.
But military sources tend to answer that they shouldn’t.
Multiple sources say the reality is that the Defence Forces are experiencing a staffing crisis at home, and that a decision was taken by the Government to reduce its peacekeeping operations so as to reduce the pressure on units in Ireland.
To deal with this, a decision was made to to end the UNDOF mission in Syria - even though favoured withdrawal was to end UNIFIL involvement before the the murder of Private Rooney.
It is understood that troops have no immediate plans to leave South Lebanon, and a decision to evacuate the mission would be taken by officials in UNIFIL and ultimately the United Nations.
Security sources have previously told The Journal that, in general, an evacuation plan would be to move a majority of the troops to Cyprus by ship from Tyre while a small team would remain behind to maintain a presence.
Sources have said the plan to evacuate the troops would be taken by the UN in conjunction with the Irish Government. That will only happen if they become routine targets – a situation that has not occurred yet.
Earlier this year, a video emerged that apparently showed Irish peacekeepers being hit in an airstrike as they drove through a South Lebanon village.
It is understood six Irish troops were in a two-vehicle convoy along with two Polish colleagues. The two Armoured Utility Vehicles (AUV) protected the crews and no one was injured.
Sources have said the biggest concern now for the troops is fulfilling their obligations to assist and protect the civilian population, as directed by the UN resolution that guides their behaviour.
The question is whether they will now be faced with a scenario that sees them having to consider to give refuge to displaced people inside their military bases.
Regardless of the events in recent days, the Irish troops and the 10,000 other military personnel in the blue helmets of peacekeepers are stuck in the middle.
Social media footage has emerged of the heavy Israeli bombing of nearby towns close to Camp Shamrock.
Tensions have been high where, on a recent visit to the area, The Journal discovered that there was some hostility from Hezbollah aligned people to the UN’s presence.
That was outside the Irish area of operations, where there was instead a welcoming atmosphere.
The Irish soldiers and the Generals in McKee Barracks in Dublin will have little to do with deciding whether they continue in the mission: it will instead come from UN Headquarters in New York.
The Israelis have breached the UN Security Council resolution by crossing the border into Lebanon, but they will, with some authority, argue that Hezbollah launching rockets into northern Israel is also a breach of that agreement.
Regardless, the UN Security Council’s major powers will continue to play an unending game of countering each other’s vetoes, which will likely block a solution in the short-term.
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