IDF says two UN peacekeepers hurt when soldiers fired at ‘immediate threat’ to troops
France, Italy, Spain issue joint statement condemning IDF for harming UNIFIL forces, Biden says he has asked Israel not to target UN; 2 Lebanese army soldiers killed
Two UN peacekeepers were injured on Friday by an Israeli strike near their watchtower in south Lebanon, the Israeli military said, while blasts shook the peacekeepers’ main base in the area for the second time in 48 hours as Israeli forces battled Hezbollah.
The Israel Defense Forces said its troops on Friday fired at an “immediate threat” emanating from near a UN peacekeeping mission position.
The Israeli military expressed “deep concern” and said two peacekeepers had been injured by Israeli fire as it was engaging Hezbollah. It said they had been warned hours earlier to take shelter. The United Nations said both were from Sri Lanka.
The Israeli military said “soldiers operating in southern Lebanon identified an immediate threat against them. The soldiers responded with fire toward the threat.”
“An initial examination indicates that during the incident, a hit was identified on a UNIFIL post, located approximately 50 meters (yards) from the source of the threat, resulting in the injury of two UNIFIL personnel,” it added.
UNIFIL said that also on Friday several blast walls “at our UN position 1-31, near the Blue Line in Labbouneh, fell when an IDF Caterpillar hit the perimeter and IDF tanks moved in the proximity of the UN position.”
“These incidents put again UN peacekeepers, who are serving in south Lebanon at the request of the Security Council under resolution 1701 (2006), at very serious risks,” it said.
Earlier, Lebanon’s foreign ministry said the Israeli army targeted “watchtowers and the main UNIFIL base in… Naqura, and on the Sri Lankan battalion’s base, which led to a number of wounded.”
Lebanon’s official National News Agency said an Israeli “Merkava tank targeted one of the UNIFIL towers on the main road linking Tyre and Naqura,” wounding the Sri Lankan personnel.
Hezbollah said on Friday it fired rockets at Israeli troops in the Ras Naqura area, a little further south.
The UNIFIL force said the incident was a “serious development” and that the security of UN personnel and property must be guaranteed.
France summoned Israel’s ambassador, and issued a joint statement with Italy and Spain saying such attacks were “unjustifiable.” US President Joe Biden said he was asking Israel to not hit the UNIFIL forces. Russia said it was “outraged” and demanded Israel refrain from “hostile actions” against the peacekeepers.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had already condemned the attacks on UN personnel.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted one year ago when the Iranian-backed terror group began launching rockets at northern Israel in support of the Hamas after the October 7 massacre in southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage to Gaza.
It has intensified in recent weeks, with Israel striking southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the Bekaa Valley, killing many of Hezbollah’s top leaders, and sending ground troops across the border. Hezbollah for its part has fired rockets deeper into Israel.
Israel says the ground operation is aimed at pushing Hezbollah away from the border and allowing the safe return of evacuated Israeli civilians to their homes in northern Israel.
An Israeli strike overnight in the heart of Beirut killed 22 people and wounded 139, caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati said. Lebanon’s army also said two soldiers were killed and three wounded when Israeli forces attacked one of its military posts in Kafra in the south.
UNIFIL has more than 10,000 personnel, with Italy, France, Malaysia, Indonesia and India among the biggest contributors.
The chief of staff of Ireland’s Defense Forces, which has around 340 personnel serving in UNIFIL, said he believed Friday’s attack on the observation tower was deliberate.
“An observer tower with a round from a tank directly into it, which is a very small target, has to be very deliberate, and it’s a direct fire. So from a military perspective, this is not an accidental act. It’s a direct act,” Lieutenant General Sean Clancy told RTE television.
Two Indonesian UN peacekeepers were injured on Thursday after falling from a watchtower following Israeli tank fire, after which Israel said its troops had opened fire nearby, and that Hezbollah fighters operated from areas near UNIFIL posts.
