On the evening of August 28th the BBC News website published an uncredited report titled “Irish peacekeepers to withdraw from Lebanon by 2027”. Although it is tagged “Republic of Ireland”, “Lebanon” and “UN peacekeeping”, that report did not appear on the website’s ‘Middle East’ page.
Relating to a UN Security Council resolution passed on the same day, the report opens by telling readers that: [emphasis added]
“The United Nations peacekeeping operation in Lebanon, which Irish troops have been involved in for more than 50 years, is set to come to an end in 2027.”
However, just three paragraphs later, readers are accurately informed that UNIFIL was established forty-seven years ago in 1978:
“Unifil is a peacekeeping mission which was created in 1978 to monitor hostilities and help ensure humanitarian access to civilians.”
If the anonymous writer intended to refer to Irish participation in previously established UN bodies such as UNOGIL (June to December 1958) or later UNTSO, then clearly the phrase “more than 50 years” does not adequately inform readers.
Notably, beyond that brief portrayal of UNIFIL’s original purpose (albeit without any reference to the underlying events), readers find no information concerning the expansion of that mission’s mandate in August 2006 and are not told that UN SC resolution 1701 assigned UNIFIL an active role.
“12. Acting in support of a request from the Government of Lebanon to deploy an international force to assist it to exercise its authority throughout the territory, authorizes UNIFIL to take all necessary action in areas of deployment of its forces and as it deems within its capabilities, to ensure that its area of operations is not utilized for hostile activities of any kind, […]”
As is overwhelmingly the case in BBC reporting, readers are not provided with any information concerning the failure to implement that UN SC resolution and the fact that UNIFIL did not meet its primary purpose of overseeing the prohibition on Hezbollah’s military presence in southern Lebanon.
The absence of that highly relevant information of course hinders audience understanding of the background to another statement appearing in this report:
“The United States and Israel want Unifil peacekeepers to withdraw completely from Lebanon by next year.”
While Hizballah is not mentioned even once in this entire BBC report, it does quote Ireland’s Minister for Defence:
“Harris said it was important now, with the withdrawal, that Ireland does not turn its back on Lebanon.
“I do think with a new government in place, I do think there’s a real opportunity now to try and give the people of Lebanon the start that they so desperately crave and I, as a representative of the Irish government, am determined we stand in solidarity with the good people of Lebanon,” he added.”
Notably, BBC audiences are not provided with any information about the related issue of the Lebanese government’s commitment to enforcing the November 2024 ceasefire agreement, which includes the full implementation of UN SC resolution 1701.
This report is currently the only one on the topic of the recent UN SC decision concerning UNIFIL to appear on BBC News website’s “UN peacekeeping” or “Lebanon” pages.
Clearly the BBC cannot claim to have provided its audiences with the full range of information needed to understand that UN SC resolution and its implications if its sole report on that topic does not even mention the 2006 resolution that is the basis for UNIFIL’s mandate or that body’s decades-long failure to meet its purpose.
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HOW HAS BBC NEWS CHOSEN TO FRAME UNSC RESOLUTION 1701?
Well let us start with the Irish, a country that supported Hitler and has in its own Parliament implemented BDS. As UNIFILThey have consistently turned a blind eye to the actions of Hezbollah building tunnels and creating massive underground rocket storage facilities. The UNIFIL totally failed their mandate and they will not be missed when they leave. More examples of the BBC inaccurate pieces and more examples of reporting by omission. #defundthebbc