Grave matter: Mohamed Khaled answering a question during Minister’s Question Time at the Dewan Rakyat proceedings in conjunction with the Third Meeting of the Third Term of the 15th Parliament. — Bernama
MALAYSIAN peacekeepers in Lebanon can engage in gunfire exchange with Israeli forces only if attacked, says Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
The Defence Minister said this is permitted as part of protection measures for personnel under the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil).
“They will be allowed to fire back but only in self-defence and not in an offensive attack. This is because they are there as peacekeepers,” he said to a question by Datuk Seri Ikmal Abdul Aziz (PN-Tanah Merah).
The minister acknowledged that the situation in southern Lebanon had worsened, including incidents of exchange of fire between Unifil peacekeepers from Indonesia and Sri Lanka and the Israeli forces.
However, Mohamed Khaled said that any decision to withdraw Malaysian personnel from southern Lebanon cannot be done unilaterally but must be a decision from Unifil.
“Evacuation plans are in place in the event that an order to withdraw is given.”
Mohamed Khaled added that no loss of lives or property were reported among Malaysian troops within their respective bases.
There are currently 853 officers and other personnel serving under Malaysian Battalion 850-11 (Malbatt 850-11) in southern Lebanon.
Malbatt 850-11 is part of Unifil, which has 10,058 personnel from 50 nations serving as peacekeepers.
The current batch of Malaysian soldiers are those serving between Nov 14, 2023, and Nov 14 this year.Malaysia has been partaking in Unifil’s peacekeeping operations in southern Lebanon since 2007.
Mohamed Khaled had earlier said that the government would decide on further action involving Malaysian peacekeepers in Lebanon after holding discussions with Unifil.
The statement came in the wake of five Unifil personnel who were injured in multiple incidents involving attacks by Israeli forces at the Unifil headquarters in Naqoura, southern Lebanon.
On Oct 13, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the UN to immediately pull its peacekeepers in south Lebanon as fighting between the Israeli forces and Lebanese group Hezbollah intensified.
