CLAIMS THAT THE Israeli army bulldozed a United Nations base used by Irish peacekeepers in Lebanon have accumulated more than half a million views on social media, despite being untrue.

The claims are based on an incident that did actually happen, in which a UN tower was bulldozed by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in recent days.

The incident was the latest in a series of attacks on UNIFIL infrastructure that have been blamed on Israeli forces. An observation tower and the perimeter fence of a UN position were demolished during these incidents.

It prompted a claim that Irish troops – who are working in peacekeepers roles UNIFIL in southern Lebanon – manned the tower that was attacked.

“Israel bullying of peacekeepers,” a post on social media platform X dated 20 October begins.

It then lists off a number of incidents, including that the IDF “bulldozed gates and walls of Irish base”.

At the time of writing, the post had more than 561,100 views and had no attached Community Note (a form of fact-checking on X where contributors can submit comments on misleading posts that all users can see).

However, the Defence Forces said at the time that no Irish troops were involved in the incident, and that its peacekeepers remained well and accounted for in the aftermath of the attack.

A spokesperson for the Defence Forces subsequently told The Journal that the bulldozed UN tower was not an Irish base.

“We can confirm that no such incidents have occurred in any Irish bases in Lebanon,” the spokesperson said in response to queries about the claim on X.

Similar incidents involving the IDF and UN peacekeepers have occurred recently, and the claim about Irish troops being based in the UN tower appears to be leaning into this.

Israeli forces were criticised earlier this month for taking defensive positions close to the UN bases where Irish troops are stationed in southern Lebanon, putting peacekeepers at risk.

However, the IDF would leave their positions days later with no damage to the base reported.

The latest claim also follows previous concerns about military activity by Israeli forces near a base manned by Irish peacekeepers.

Earlier this month, several posts on social media incorrectly claimed that the IDF fired on Irish peacekeepers working for the United Nations, in an incident which actually injured two Sri Lankan peacekeepers.

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