Hezbollah prisoners captured during recent IDF operations in southern Lebanon told interrogators that their commanders frequently bribed peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon to gain access to the international agency’s facilities, according to a Monday report by Israel Hayom.
Sources also indicated to the Israeli news outlet that the militia, backed by the Islamic Republic, had commandeered the observation cameras operated by UNIFIL for their own surveillance endeavors.
These revelations, along with the prolonged failure of the global military contingent to effectively monitor terrorist activities in the region, have reportedly led Jerusalem to plan for reliance on Lebanese regular forces for any future security arrangements along Israel's northern border.
UNIFIL is currently authorized by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 to ensure the government in Beirut’s sovereignty south of the Litani River. This 2006 measure, adopted at the conclusion of the Second Lebanon War, expanded the group's original 1978 mandate, granting it unilateral enforcement powers.
Despite the organization's enhanced authority, Hezbollah was able to construct a vast network of tunnels, underground weapons bunkers, and missile launch sites in the restricted area, while deploying at least 7,500 projectiles into Israel since October 7, 2023.
Last week, the IDF released video footage of a Hezbollah munitions cache located several dozen meters from and within visual range of a UNIFIL outpost.
On October 13, Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon accused Hezbollah of “using UNIFIL outposts as hiding spots and ambush points,” while stating “for 18 years, UNIFIL personnel overlooked Hezbollah bases along the border and failed to report any violations of Resolution 1701.”
Related Story: What a Surprise: Israel Finds Huge Hezbollah Weapons Cache Mere Meters from a U.N. Observation Tower
