'Evacuate peacekeepers from combat areas in Lebanon else…': Israeli PM Netanyahu to UN chief

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday (October 13) urged the United Nations to evacuate troops in its UNIFIL peacekeeping force from combat areas in Lebanon. Netanyahu said the military had asked the UN to evacuate the soldiers repeatedly, adding that their presence in the area made them hostages of Hezbollah. Five peacekeepers have been injured in three separate incidents since Thursday (October 10), the peacekeeping mission UNIFIL has said. In a statement on Saturday (October 12), the mission said a peacekeeper had been hit by gunfire at its headquarters in Naquora, southern Lebanon, and a position at Ramya had been damaged by shelling.