UNIFIL says peacekeeper wounded a day earlier by unknown gunfire

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) says that unknown gunfire a day earlier hit a peacekeeper, the fifth wounded in south Lebanon near the Israeli border in just two days.

“Last night, a peacekeeper at UNIFIL’s headquarters” in Naqura “was hit by gunfire due to ongoing military activity nearby… We do not yet know the origin of the fire,” a statement says, adding that the peacekeeper is “stable.”

A UNIFIL spokesman says recent Israel-Hezbollah clashes in southern Lebanon have inflicted “a lot of damage” on its positions.

Working is “very difficult because there is a lot of damage, even inside the bases,” UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti tells AFP. “Just last night, on the position of the Ghanaian peacekeepers, just outside, the blast was so strong that it destroyed some of the containers inside very badly.”

Tenenti also says Israel requested UNIFIL leave its positions where Israel is clashing with Hezbollah, but the peacekeepers refused.

They asked us to withdraw “from the positions along the Blue Line… or up to five kilometers (three miles) from the Blue Line,” Tenenti tells AFP, using the term for the demarcation line between both countries. “But there was a unanimous decision to stay.”

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.