New York, Aug. 11: Nearly 700 Indian soldiers on an altruistic mission of keeping peace in Lebanon are facing starvation and life-threatening perils of war.

Sources at the UN’s department of peacekeeping operations (DPKO) here said yesterday that rations and fuel for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) will run out in the next 48 hours unless some way is found to re-supply the force.

India has 673 soldiers from the 4th Sikh Regiment currently deployed as peacekeepers right in the heart of intense fighting between Israel and the Hizbollah militia.

Sources said India’s permanent representative to the UN here, Nirupam Sen, has told Jean-Marie Guehenno, the UN’s under secretary-general for peacekeeping, and General Randhir Kumar Mehta, the military adviser to DPKO, that they must have a contingency plan to evacuate the soldiers unless the men can be provided immediate relief.

Sen declined to confirm or deny this.

At a meeting of major countries contributing troops for UN peacekeeping here on Wednesday, Indian diplomats are understood to have drawn attention to the dire plight of its Unifil soldiers.

Following Sen’s SOS to Guehenno and Mehta, the Unifil headquarters in Naqoura last night received a consignment of fuel, but it is yet to reach any Indian Army unit in South Lebanon because of heavy fighting and damage to roads from Israeli bombing.

Unifil said in a statement yesterday that during the previous 24 hours, there were five incidents of Israeli firing close to UN positions in four areas and one incident of Hizbollah firing. The Islamic militia also fired rockets from the vicinity of UN positions in three places.

Although 19 Unifil outposts are now in Lebanese territory where the Israeli army is directly battling the Hizbollah, these posts continue to be fully manned.

Despite the hazards of fighting and its own low supplies, Unifil soldiers on Wednesday gave a small amount of fuel to the devastated Lebanese village of Rmeich to operate water pumps for the villagers.

In addition to the men in South Lebanon, India has a mechanised army column of 180 personnel performing logistic operations on the Golan heights as part of the Unifil mandate. These men are not in immediate danger, though they, too, face increased risks and difficulties as a result of the Israel-Hizbollah conflict.

A sea blockade of Lebanon, imposed by Israel, and the extensive destruction of roads and other infrastructure throughout Lebanon is coming in the way of re-supplying food rations, fuel and other necessities to the Unifil.

But unless the conditions of Indian soldiers in Lebanon are immediately improved, India may walk away from any proposal to contribute troops for a new international force in Lebanon, which is being considered if and when there is a cessation of hostilities between Israel and the Hizbollah.