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A DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN by Hezbollah has led to an increased threat against Irish peacekeepers on the ground in Lebanon, a senior Irish Army officer has revealed.
Lieutenant Colonel Edward McDonagh, who will lead the more than 300 Irish soldiers in Lebanon, said that targeted falsehoods have been spread to undermine the mission.
McDonagh, speaking in the Glen of Imaal in Wicklow during a pre-deployment exercise today, said it has caused tensions to erupt between local people (who are returning to bombed out homes) and the peacekeepers.
On a recent visit to Irish soldiers in south Lebanon The Journal confirmed reports that there had been aggression shown to Irish soldiers and other soldiers by local communities.
Some of this aggression occurred as soldiers were on patrol and assisting local people who had returned to bombed out villages and towns after the Hezbollah and Israeli war.
McDonagh said that 40% of the displaced civilian population have now returned home but they have discovered that a campaign of propaganda against the UN and the peacekeepers has been made by Hezbollah.
“The current operational environment in southern Lebanon is highly volatile and unpredictable – there are consistent breaches of the ceasefire that was agreed between Israel and Lebanon.
“Those breaches are on the Israeli side and the Hezbollah side and other non-state actors,” he said.
McDonagh said that the outbreaks of violence are sporadic and that there are “isolated incidents” halting Irish patrols. He said there is “very little” contact between the peacekeepers and Israeli forces who have established a makeshift camp near the outpost UNP 6-52 which is manned by Irish soldiers.
It is the disinformation campaign that is now posing an extra threat to Irish soldiers and the 10,000 troops deployed as part of the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission.
“There is a perception [among the Lebanese population] that has been spread by Hezbollah through disinformation and misinformation that UNIFIL did nothing during the conflict.
“That has caused some disquiet among the local population – how high that disquiet is I don’t know and it is something that we will engage with when we meet them,” he said.
Key to solving the disinformation issue is the Civil Military Co-operation mission (CIMIC) but it will also be down to McDonagh himself to manage it.
“To mitigate that we will meet with the leaders of the community and as a battalion commander that is something we intend to do very early on.
“We will reinforce our mandate, that we were invited by the Lebanese Government, that we are there to serve under the United Nations Security Council resolution which is in place since 2006.
“The Mandate hasn’t changed but the environment has changed and we need to be flexible and robust,” he added.
The commanding officer of the Irish battalion has visited the area and met with Lt Col Shane Rockett who is the current officer commanding Irish troops there.
One of the key threats against Irish soldiers is the problem of unexploded ordnance – essentially rockets and rounds of artillery ammunition that did not detonate when they were fired.
They are scattered across the region and can be sent towards routes the Irish travel on by landslides during wet winter weather.
“There are going to be the remnants of war, but there will also be decades of mines that have been unsettled and washed away,” he said.
The Irish practised an incident in which an Irish convoy came under attack near the so-called Blue Line which divides Lebanon and Israel.
The scenario mimicked an exact response of the Irish soldiers, with initial first aid carried out by soldiers in Irish armoured personnel carriers and then they were backed up by members of a Quick Reaction Force from an Irish outpost, similar to UNP 6-52.
The 126th Infantry Battalion is deploying with 308 personnel, of which 298 are drawn from the Irish Defence Forces and 10 from the Armed Forces of Malta.
Members of the elite Army Ranger Wing are part of the deployment and will work with the conventional troops on force protection duties.
Personnel range in experience from those on their first deployment, to seasoned Non-Commissioned Officers and Commissioned Officers.
They will deploy in May and take over duties from the 125th Infantry Battalion who were deployed in November 2024.
The personnel of the 126th Infantry Battalion are primarily drawn from the 1 Brigade are of responsibility with the lead unit being Galway’s An Chéad Chathlán Coisithe.
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