On March 30th the BBC News website published a report by Anna Lamche titled “Two Indonesian UN peacekeepers killed in explosion in Lebanon” in which readers were told that the purpose of UNIFIL is “policing the region” but with no mention made of the relevant topic of that body’s decades-long failure to fulfill its mandate: [emphasis added]
“Two Indonesian peacekeepers were killed in southern Lebanon on Monday when an “explosion of unknown origin destroyed their vehicle”, the UN agency tasked with policing the region has said.
A third peacekeeper was “severely” injured in the explosion, and a fourth was hurt, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said on Monday.
Initial findings suggest a roadside explosion struck their convoy, UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix said the following day.
It was the second fatal incident in 24 hours, Unifil noted. A peacekeeper – who was also Indonesian – was killed on Sunday when a projectile, also of unknown origin, exploded in Adchit Al Qusayr, southern Lebanon.
Unifil said it had launched investigations to determine what happened in both incidents.
The deaths come shortly after the Israeli military announced it would step up ground and air attacks against the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.”
That linked article (previously discussed here) was actually published eight days earlier on March 22nd rather than “shortly” before the March 30th incident but apparently Lamche sought to imply some kind of connection between that announcement and the deaths of UNIFIL soldiers. She goes on to note that:
“In a statement on Telegram, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said the incidents were being “thoroughly reviewed in order to clarify the circumstances and determine whether they resulted from Hezbollah activity or from IDF activity.”
“It should be noted these incidents occurred in an active combat area. Therefore, it should not be assumed that incidents in which UNIFIL soldiers were harmed were caused by the IDF.””
Her report closes with a mention of an incident that had taken place on March 6th:
“Earlier this month, four Ghanaian soldiers serving with Unifil were injured when their base was hit.
Ghanaian Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa did not say who was responsible when speaking at a Commonwealth meeting on Sunday but said the bombing was “an attack on every principle that the UN Charter exists to defend”.”
The IDF had already acknowledged on March 18th that the incident was the result of errant tank fire while troops were responding to anti-tank missile attacks from Hezbollah which had wounded two soldiers.
On the following day – March 31st – the BBC News website published a follow-up report by Lamche titled “Peacekeepers killed by roadside explosion in Lebanon, initial report finds”.
“Two Indonesian peacekeepers were killed on Monday by a “roadside explosion” in southern Lebanon, UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix has said, citing the findings of an initial investigation.
In a separate statement, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said the explosion was of “unknown origin” and “destroyed” the peacekeepers’ vehicle near Bani Hayyan.
A third peacekeeper was “severely” injured in the explosion, and a fourth was hurt, Unifil said.
It was the second such fatal incident in 24 hours. Another peacekeeper – who was also Indonesian – was killed on Sunday when a projectile, also of unknown origin, exploded in Adchit Al Qusayr, southern Lebanon. […]
The deaths come shortly after the Israeli military announced it would step up ground and air attacks against the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.”
Lamche later tells readers that:
“In a statement on Telegram, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its own review had concluded that the Bani Hayyan explosion “was not caused by IDF activity”.
It went on: “A comprehensive operational examination indicates that no explosive device was placed in the area by IDF troops, and that no IDF troops were present in the area at all.””
Lamche does not however inform BBC audiences that the IDF’s investigation concluded that the roadside bombs that killed the two Indonesian soldiers on March 30th were likely placed by Hizballah.
A report headlined “US warns its citizens to leave Lebanon citing escalating security risks” and credited to US-based Sareen Habeshian which appeared on the BBC News website on the evening of April 3rd closes by telling BBC audiences that:
“Meanwhile, an explosion “inside a UN position” in Lebanon injured three UN peacekeepers, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said on Friday.
Two of the peacekeepers were seriously injured, the agency said.
Spokeswoman Kandice Ardiel said the blast occurred near El Adeisse, in southern Lebanon, with the origin of the explosion not yet identified.”
By the time that report was published, the IDF had already clarified that the explosion was caused by a Hizballah rocket but BBC audiences were once again left with a misleading impression.
These are by no means the first cases in which the BBC has failed to report incidents involving Hizballah and UNIFIL accurately and impartially.
NO BBC FOLLOW UP ON INACCURATE LEBANON ‘SHELLING’ STORY
BBC PARTLY CORRECTS LEBANON ‘SHELLING’ CLAIM OVER SIXTEEN MONTHS LATER
OMISSIONS IN BBC REPORT ON ATTACK ON UNIFIL
MORE BBC PROMOTION OF A SELECTIVE NARRATIVE ON INCIDENTS INVOLVING UNIFIL
BBC IGNORES FOLLOW-UP ON ATTACK ON IRISH UNIFIL TROOPS
While it may come as no surprise to find the UN body that has resoundingly failed to implement UN Security Council resolutions promoting an “unknown origins” narrative in relation to Hizballah actions that endanger its forces, that does not justify the BBC’s failure to report the incidents in a manner that provides its audiences with the full range of available information.
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BBC NEWS CONTINUES TO COMPROMISE UNDERSTANDING OF EVENTS IN LEBANON
The UNIFIL agents must have been time travellers. Pathetic ignorant and quite frankly antisemitic posting as we have come to expect from the BBC #defundthebbc
What I find so interesting, and revealing in all kinds of ways, is how the journalists writing these reports skip and change between using Lebanon and Hizbullah interchangeably. And whatever way you look at that it’s bad. Why don’t the editors pick up on this I wonder. Actually .. . I don’t.