KUALA LUMPUR: The government will decide on further actions concerning the Malaysian peacekeeping force in Lebanon after consultations with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) and the United Nations (UN), Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said.
This, he said, is because the involvement of the Malaysian Battalion (Malbatt) 850-11 falls under the banner and mandate of the UN.
Khaled added that the duties and responsibilities of the Malaysian peacekeeping force in Lebanon are governed by the protocols and regulations set by the Unifil.
"The Defence Ministry, through the Foreign Ministry, will liaise with the UN via the designated channels to ensure the safety of the Malaysian peacekeeping forces and that they continue to serve in line with their mandate," he said in a statement.
Khaled also calls for Israel to respect such a mandate and refrain from dragging Unifil into the Israel-Hizbollah conflict.
"An attack on Unifil personnel is an attack on the UN and the international community.
"It is a violation of all international legal norms and is highly uncivilised."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier called on UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres to move peacekeepers deployed in the southern Lebanon out of "harm's way", saying Hizbollah was using them as "human shields."
This comes a day after the peacekeeping force repeated its refusal to withdraw from the border area.
Unifil, which involves about 9,500 troops of around 50 nationalities, is tasked with monitoring a ceasefire that ended a 33-day war between Israel and Hizbollah in 2006.
Its role was bolstered by UN Security Council Resolution 1701 of that year, which stipulated that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers should be deployed in southern Lebanon.