Israel warned about attack that killed Spanish peacekeeper
But UN mission was told strikes would hit a different area, military sources say
The Israeli army did warn the UN mission in Lebanon about the strikes that resulted in the death of a Spanish peacekeeper on Wednesday, despite earlier reports to the contrary, Spanish military sources said.
However, the message said the strikes would be launched against a different area from the one where 30 projectiles ultimately fell, according to the same sources.
The communication was received by UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) immediately after a Hezbollah attack against an Israeli convoy that killed two soldiers and injured seven others. The army issued the warning around 20 minutes before retaliating against the Shiite militant group.
But sources said the Israeli army indicated they would be targeting an area known as the Shebaa Farms, not the village of Ghayar, which is located between six and eight kilometers in a straight line from there.
As a result, UNIFIL ordered the immediate evacuation of two ‘blue helmet’ posts in the former location – one was evacuated, while the peacekeepers in the other one took shelter – but no orders were issued to the Ghayar post.
When the Israeli army launched air strikes and artillery fire in the area of Ghayar, one of the first grenades hit the post where Corporal Francisco Javier Soria Toledo was standing guard.
The same sources explained that UNIFIL asked the Israeli army to hold its fire in order to evacuate the wounded man. While a medical team was on site, the exchange of fire resumed and a further 90 projectiles fell in the area. Health personnel took refuge in the bunker and the rescue operation was delayed several hours. By then, the 36-year-old peacekeeper was dead.
Asked about this early warning, Colonel Peter Lerner, spokesman for Israel’s defense forces, stated that UNIFIL was informed through official channels about the army’s imminent response to Hezbollah’s attack, and that this information was relayed with sufficient time, Noga Tarnopolsky reports from Jerusalem.
The official did not specify whether the warning detailed the specific area where the strikes would take place.
Although UNIFIL has yet to release any conclusions as to the origin of the fire that killed the Spanish peacekeeper, Foreign Minister José Manuel García-Margallo said it was quite clear.
“It seems proven, unless evidence to the contrary emerges, that it was Israeli fire, that the 30 grenades fell within the Blue Area,” he said, in reference to the demarcation zone between Lebanon and Israel. “Starting from there, we need to wait to see how the investigation proceeds.”
Meanwhile, a military court in Madrid is also investigating the circumstances behind the death of Soria Toledo, whose body was flown back to Spain on Thursday and received by Defense Minister Pedro Morenés. The funeral is scheduled for Friday at the Córdoba military base where the deceased was permanently stationed. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is not expected to attend.
