Colin Sheridan: Netanyahu's 'war' has killed tens of thousands. He'll hardly balk at a few peacekeepers

World leaders have not made Benjamin Netanyahu take even one step back in his quest for an ethnically-cleansed Palestine

Even as world leaders condemned an Israeli tank's breach of a United Nations peacekeeping post, an emboldened Netanyahu's forces bombed the Jabalia refugee camp in Northern Gaza, burning people alive. Picture: Pamela Smith/AP

Benjamin Netanyahu's message to the United Nations — and to Unifil in particular — is entirely consistent with his strategy for bold, inflammatory statements designed to distract, while pre-empting actual slaughter. His address on Sunday implored UN peacekeepers to withdraw for their own safety, deploying evocative language such as “hostage of Hezbollah,” and “human shields". 

It followed news earlier in the day that an IDF unit breached a UN post with a Merkava tank, causing respiratory injuries to several peacekeepers. Driven to distraction by Netanyahu’s latest demands, the international community fell over themselves expressing grave concern over the tone and absurdity of his rhetoric.