LAST UPDATE | 9 Oct

IRISH TROOPS HAVE experienced a much quieter night in South Lebanon as Israeli and Hezbollah forces focus their engagements in other areas of South Lebanon.

While the issue of Israel Defence Forces tanks at UNP 6-52 has been resolved reports this morning are that negotiations are continuing to find a way to resupply the camps of the 10,500 strong UNIFIL contingent including Irish positions. 

Sources have said the priority at the moment is to find a way to get water supplies particularly to UNP 2-45 also known as Camp Shamrock where the main body of Irish soldiers are located with their Polish counterparts. 

UNP 6-52 is the smaller of the two Irish camps. It is an outpost on the frontier between Israel and Lebanon.

There are approximately 30 soldiers stationed who patrol a line of withdrawal along the so-called Blue Line. Their role is to monitor and record incidents and report their observations back to the United Nations.

It is understood that, even if those negotiations are successful in the coming days, that the movement of resupply vehicles will be complicated by the risk of roadside bombs. 

Sources have said that there are deep concerns that Hezbollah will have mined and planted Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) along main routes so as to slow any Israeli advance of tanks and other vehicles. 

The fighting is likely to move around the Irish positions and head north but this may present its own challenges as the Irish forces could find themselves behind the Israeli advance and the IEDs will remain.

A source explained that this will require a detailed plan to deal with and slow any potential resupply missions to bases, including Camp Shamrock and the smaller UNP -6-52 closer to the Blue Line. 

Reports suggest that Israeli forces are carrying out specific intelligence led raids rather than haphazard efforts to find Hezbollah. They are also carrying out a large number of air strikes and drone strikes on specific locations across South Lebanon.

Their efforts do not seem to be slowing the number of rockets being launched into Israel with reports continuing to be made of Hezbollah missiles landing across the border.

There has also been some artillery strikes on towns and villages as Israel moves into positions. There are some reports that IDF forces have launched raids much further north in the Beqaa Valley which is adjacent to Israeli controlled areas in the Golan are of Syria – this is outside of the UNIFIL area.

Hezbollah is using an extensive warren of tunnel networks and dug outs to conduct their operations across the relatively rural areas.

The Irish are planning to resupply and rotate troops out of UNP 6-52 and that may happen in the coming days if the greenlight is given by the Spanish UNIFIL Force Commander in his base in Naqoura on the coast. They will be replaced by colleagues from Camp Shamrock.

It has also emerged from sources how Irish military leaders were informed of the IDF move away from their temporary Forward Operating Base at UNP 6-52. 

In the mid afternoon yesterday, around lunchtime Irish time, the Platoon commander, an Irish lieutenant, noticed that IDF vehicles began leaving the area. 

He sent a message, understood to be by radio, to the Tactical Operations Centre (TOC) in the main Irish base and passed on a short assessment to say that Israeli forces had left his zone of “observations”. 

This message was relayed by the officers in the TOC to UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura who then sent it to United Nations headquarters. It was then revealed by the UN in a press briefing in New York. 

It is understood that the Israelis had already contacted the United Nations to tell them that their troops had left the area and moved on.  

Taoiseach Simon Harris thanks US President Joe Biden for his assistance in relaying Irish concerns about our peacekeepers at an outpost in Lebanon ‘where there was clearly an Israeli incursion’.

He says he’ll also raise concerns about what is happening in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/UB0UukFmUA

— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) October 9, 2024

Taoiseach Simon Harris spoke to US President Joe Biden and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres before the Israeli troops left their position. 

In Washington today, Harris said: “I’m very grateful to the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and to President Biden, both of whom I talked with on the phone on Monday evening for their assistance in relaying the very serious concerns we had about our peacekeepers at the outpost where there was clearly an Israeli incursion.

“I want to thank President Biden and Secretary General Guterres for their assistance in relation to that too,” he said. 

A fresh group of Irish troops are continuing to prepare for their deployment to the region in late November. 

Soldiers from across the country, but mostly drawn from Finner Camp in Donegal, are training and planning. No decision has been made yet if that deployment will be delayed, it will depend on the situation at the time. 

They will likely arrive through the airport in Beirut but there are concerns about the safety of various routes.  

In a statement today the Irish Defence Forces confirmed that there were no IDF personnel in the vicinity of UNP 6-52 this morning.

“The cessation of activity and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from their positions around the Irish post marks a positive development amidst heightened tensions in the region.

“The situation around Irish positions remained relatively calm overnight, although clashes between both parties to the conflict persist in other areas of the Irish sector. Reports indicate that more intense clashes are occurring in other parts of the UNIFIL Area of Operations.

“Irish peacekeepers continue to monitor and report any violations of UNSCR 1701 by all parties involved, maintaining an independent and impartial stance,” the statement read.