Israeli Defence Force Probes 'Incidents' With UN Observers Off Lebanon Coast

Taken from Harretz, Isreal
By News Agencies

Israel has investigated complaints against its army regarding two incidents involving UN peacekeepers off the coast of Lebanon, an IDF spokesperson said on Saturday.

The army said it had handed peacekeepers its findings from an investigation into the April 30 incident between one of its naval vessels and the German ship.

The Israeli source said Israel had handed peacekeepers its findings from an investigation into the April 30 incident between one of its naval vessels and the German ship. Another incident involving several Israeli fighter jets that approached the frigate last Wednesday was "being checked," the source said.

The source said no complaint had been received regarding a third incident mentioned by the German spokesman, said to have involved Israeli forces and a Swedish speedboat.

Israel's military spokesman's office would not comment on any of these incidents, but said Israel coordinates with international troops in Lebanon that were expanded under a truce that ended Israel's war against Hezbollah guerrillas last year.

"Any irregular incident is checked and resolved with the cooperation of both sides," a military spokeswoman said.

On Friday, a German spokesman confirmed a report from the Rheinische Post daily which stated several Israel Air Force fighter jets made an approach towards the German frigate Niedersachsen off the Lebanese coast on Wednesday.

The paper added that on April 30 the Niedersachsen had signaled it was "ready for combat" on board when an Israeli speedboat approached the vessel traveling at around 30 knots without initially identifying itself.

One day earlier, IDF forces approached a Swedish speedboat that was also part of the UN group, the report added.

The German spokesman gave no further details.

A series of incidents in October between German UN peacekeepers and the IDF in the region prompted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to apologize for what he described as the "misunderstandings" that had occurred.

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It's not the first time Israel has attacked/ threatened to attack UN forces. Many peacekeepers and observers have died or been injured due to the Israeli aggression. Blame the incident is usually due to communication problems by Israel with the UN - Yeah right! Billions of dollars worth of arsenal are sent to Israel for free or a reduced rate (to defend themselves) yet they use these weapons to attack neighbouring countries as well as UN peacekeepers. During the Second Lebanon war over three thousand Lebanese died and the country was reduced to rubble - thanks to the Weapons we send to Israel. We seem to easily forget in June 8, 1967, while in international waters off the Sinai Peninsula, USS Liberty was attacked and damaged by Israeli forces; 34 crewmen were killed and 173 wounded. Considerable controversy surrounds this attack. Germany recently provided Israel with two nuclear capable submarines - let’s hope the Germans are not the first to be the experimented with the nukes.