AFM soldiers deployed in Lebanon as part of UN peacekeeping mission are safe: spokesperson

An Armed Forces of Malta spokesperson has confirmed with this newspaper that nine Maltese soldiers deployed in Lebanon as part of the UN peacekeeping Mission are safe.

“The Armed Forces of Malta is closely monitoring the situation and is in direct contact with the Irish Defence Forces. Although the situation is volatile, all Maltese soldiers are safe,” a spokesperson said in reply to questions by MaltaToday.

One officer and eight senior and junior non-commissioned officers of the Armed Forces of Malta are currently embedded with the 124th Infantry Battalion in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) deployment in Lebanon, for a 6-month tour of peace keeping operations.

The role of these personnel remains fundamentally related to peace keeping operations, and never related to any sort of fights or participation in a battlefield.

The UN has more than 10,000 peacekeeping troops deployed along the border of Lebanon with Israel and Syria in what is known as the Blue Line.

Tensions are high in Lebanon as the Israeli air force continues to strike Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Hundreds of people were killed the on Monday in the deadliest barrage of Israeli attacks there in nearly two decades.

Wednesday brought the most explicit threat yet of a ground incursion in Lebanon. The Israeli military’s Chief of the General Staff, Herzi Halevi, told troops in the north that airstrikes in Lebanon were intended “to prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not commented on the ceasefire reports carried by a number of international newsrooms.

An Israeli official told CNN on Thursday that talks over a potential temporary ceasefire with Hezbollah are a main motivator for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

The source said it was notable that Netanyahu, who is currently flying to New York, has not denied reports that the US is pushing for a 21-day ceasefire.

The source added that the main reason for Netanyahu’s trip is these diplomatic talks, and the message in Israel’s briefings yesterday was that “Israel favours a diplomatic solution.”