Netanyahu calls on UN soldiers to withdraw from Lebanon combat zone

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for peacekeeping troops from the United Nations Interim Forces in Southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) to immediately withdraw from the combat zone in the south of the country.

Netanyahu addressed his demand directly to UN Secretary General António Guterres during a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

"It is time for you to withdraw UNIFIL from Hezbollah strongholds and from the areas of combat," Netanyahu said in a Hebrew-language message. He accused Guterres of refusing to do so and thus making the UNIFIL soldiers "hostages of Hezbollah."

Netanyahu said he "regrets" that UNIFIL soldiers have been injured after Israeli soldiers fired on the blue helmet soldiers' positions.

UNIFIL's task with more than 10,000 soldiers has been to monitor compliance with the ceasefire following the 2006 Lebanon war.