THE TÁNAISTE HAS lashed out at the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) for a “reckless” incident in which they fired on Irish peacekeeping troops.

Yesterday The Journal reported that Irish soldiers of the 126th Infantry Battalion, patrolling with Lebanese Armed Forces soldiers near the village of Yaroun, were fired on by Israeli Defence Forces soldiers.

It is understood the incident lasted almost ten minutes in which up to 30 shots were fired at the Irish and Lebanese soldiers.

A source said that the shots landed on either side of the patrol and were defined as “containment” meaning they were designed to halt the patrol.

It is understood the six Irish soldiers did not return fire and instead followed standard procedures withdrawing to their base at United Nations Post 2-45 or Camp Shamrock near the town of At Tiri.

This afternoon, following a briefing by Chief of Staff Brigadier General Rossa Mulcahy, the Tánaiste launched a sting attack on the IDF.

“Brigadier General Mulcahy provided me with a detailed briefing on the serious events that took place yesterday involving Irish Defence Force personnel in Southern Lebanon.

“It’s clear to me that the actions of the IDF were reckless, intimidatory, totally unacceptable and a clear breach of the international rules surrounding peacekeeping.

“Brigadier General Mulcahy has assured me that all of our troops impacted are safe and well. They have been debriefed following the incident and patrols are continuing as normal today,” he said. 

The Tánaiste paid tribute to the troops who are serving with UNIFIL and described the environment in south Lebanon as “increasingly volatile and tense”.

“My officials in the Department of Defence will today formally lodge a protest letter over what happened yesterday and this will be communicated directly with Israel,” he added.

HARRIS told the Dáil yesterday that the Israeli government is committing genocide in Gaza during a heated exchange with independent TD Catherine Connolly.

Last week, Harris had said that recent comments from the Israeli government mean “we are now very much in the space of genocidal activity” – but today’s comments are the first time that he has explicitly described Israel’s actions as genocide.

The comment comes after Taoiseach Micheál Martin also told the Dáil that the Israeli government is committing genocide in Gaza.

The Israeli forces have remained in South Lebanon despite a ceasefire agreement – there have been a number of incidents in which they fired on UN troops in the area.