Minister for Foreign Affairs visits troops in southern Lebanon where Israel and Hamas ally Hizbullah trade fire daily
Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin with members of the 124th Infantry Battalion at Camp Shamrock in Debel during a visit to Lebanon where he met Irish troops. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA
Speaking on a three-day visit to Lebanon, where on Sunday he met Defence Forces personnel serving with United Nations Interim Force Lebanon , Mr Martin said the Hamas attack in Israel last October and the bombardment of Gaza by the Israelis since then had made conditions for the Irish troops much more dangerous.
“There has been an escalation in this region not to levels that would be akin to a war or anything like that yet,” said Mr Martin, who is also Tánaiste and Minister for Defence. “Nonetheless, it has resulted in up to 70,000 to 80,000 people having to leave this area and likewise up to 90,000 people on the Israeli side of the border having to be evacuated.”
However, while that conflict had ratcheted up tensions in the region where the Irish troops were operating, the Unifil mission “tempo” and security measures had been adjusted accordingly. The 391 Irish troops, and their international Unifil colleagues, were proving a stabilising force in the region, including performing patrols amid the significantly heightened security environment since last October.
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