UN peacekeepers in Lebanon accuse Israel of firing on their headquarters

Photo: Agence France-Presse Spanish UNIFIL peacekeepers on patrol Tuesday in Marjayoun, southern Lebanon.

Agence France-Presse in Beirut

Published at 9:57 a.m. Updated at 11:50 a.m.

• Middle East

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The UN force deployed between Lebanon and Israel on Thursday accused Israeli troops of “repeatedly” firing on its positions, reporting two Indonesian peacekeepers wounded, which has sparked a diplomatic outcry.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), whose 10,000 soldiers are deployed in the south of the country, has been calling for an end to hostilities since the start of the escalation between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.

On Thursday morning, it announced, “two peacekeepers were injured after an Israeli army Merkava tank fired on an observation tower at UNIFIL HQ” in Naqoura, “hitting it directly and causing the two men to fall.”

Of Indonesian nationality according to a UNIFIL spokeswoman, the latter are “still in hospital,” but “their injuries are not serious.”

“Israeli soldiers also fired on a UN position in Ras al-Naqoura, hitting the entrance to the bunker where peacekeepers had taken shelter and damaging vehicles and communications systems,” UNIFIL continued in a statement.

On Wednesday, “Israeli soldiers deliberately fired on the cameras at the position, putting them out of action, and also deliberately fired on a position where tripartite meetings were regularly held before this conflict broke out,” according to the same source.

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Immediately, Rome, the largest Western contributor to UNIFIL in terms of personnel, with nearly 900 soldiers mobilized, denounced “intolerable” acts on Thursday and summoned the Israeli ambassador for a “firm protest.”

Shortly after, France and Italy decided to organize a meeting next week with the other European contributing countries — Spain and Ireland — according to the French Ministry of the Armed Forces.

The Irish Prime Minister, Simon Harris, whose country has a contingent of Blue Helmets in the south of Lebanon, castigated on X “an irresponsible act” adding that “this must stop”.

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“Extremely dangerous”

On Thursday morning, Hezbollah claimed to have “destroyed an Israeli tank that was advancing” toward Ras al-Naqoura.

It then indicated that it had “targeted Israeli troops who were trying to evacuate wounded soldiers from Ras al-Naqoura with rocket salvos.”

The pro-Iranian armed formation added that it had fired rockets at Israeli soldiers who were advancing towards the Lebanese town of Mais al-Jabal.

Hezbollah still claims to have fired “large salvos of rockets” at northern Israel.

After a year of cross-border firefights, Israel is now waging open war against Hezbollah.

On Sunday, UNIFIL denounced operations by the Israeli army near one of its positions in the area of ​​the border village of Maroun al-Ras, deeming them “extremely dangerous.”

On October 5, it announced that it was “maintaining its positions,” despite a request from the Israeli army to “move some of them.”

The Lebanese Islamist movement claimed to have called on its fighters not to endanger the Helmets blue.

Since the beginning of the escalation, UNIFIL has been calling on the two belligerents to apply UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

This resolution, which had confirmed the end of the previous war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, stipulates that only UN peacekeeping forces and the Lebanese army can be deployed in southern Lebanon.

Despite this resolution, Hezbollah has maintained a presence in this region since 2006, and Israel launched ground operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon on September 30.