Italy says 8 Hezbollah rockets hit its UNIFIL headquarters in south Lebanon; no injuries

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Shama on November 16, 2024. (Kawnat Haju/AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Shama on November 16, 2024. (Kawnat Haju/AFP)

Eight rockets hit the headquarters of the Italian contingent of the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL in Shama, in southern Lebanon, Italy’s defense ministry says.

No injuries were reported, but five Italian soldiers are being monitored in the base’s medical facility, the ministry says in a statement.

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto had originally blamed Israel for the attack, but a Defense Ministry source said that Crosetto “did not have the right information” when he spoke. “Hezbollah was responsible for the attack,” the source tells AFP.

The rockets hit some outdoor areas and the base’s supply warehouse, where no soldiers were present.

In its own statement, UNIFIL says the rockets struck the headquarters’ “maintenance workshop,” causing heavy damage, but did not identify who was responsible.

The IDF did not immediately return a request for comment.

Earlier today, the IDF said a Hezbollah rocket attack damaged a separate UNIFIL position in the southern Lebanon village of Ramyeh, in an attack that the UN agency confirmed was “fired most likely by non-State actors within Lebanon.”

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