2 peacekeepers from Sri Lanka hurt by Israeli fire in Lebanon, UN says
Reuters | Posted: October 11, 2024 2:20 PM | Last Updated: October 11
France summons Israeli ambassador over attacks on UN troops in southern Lebanon
Two UN peacekeepers were injured on Friday by an Israeli strike near their watchtower in south Lebanon, while blasts shook the peacekeepers' main base in the area for the second time in 48 hours as Israeli forces battled Hezbollah.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said the incident was a "serious development," and that the security of UN personnel and property must be guaranteed.
On Friday, France summoned Israel's ambassador, and issued a joint statement with Italy and Spain saying such attacks were "unjustifiable." U.S. President Joe Biden said he was asking Israel to not hit the UNIFIL forces. Russia said it was "outraged" and demanded that Israel refrain from "hostile actions" against the peacekeepers.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres had already condemned the attacks on UN personnel.
The Israeli military on Friday 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, however. The United Nations said both peacekeepers were from Sri Lanka.
"Sri Lanka strongly condemns the attack at UNIFIL's headquarters in Naqoura, South Lebanon, injuring two Sri Lankan UN peacekeepers. Sri Lanka upholds the obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and inviolability of UN premises at all times," the country's foreign ministry said Friday.
One of the injured peacekeepers was hospitalized in the nearby city of Tyre while the other received medical care on site, UNIFIL said.
WATCH | France, Italy condemn Israeli attacks on peacekeepers:
The UN force said it sent reinforcements to the area following an earlier incident Friday in which an Israeli army bulldozer hit the perimeter of a separate UNIFIL position while Israeli tanks moved nearby.
The report came just a day after Israeli tank fire hit the same UNIFIL headquarters, injuring two Indonesian peacekeepers and drawing sharp international criticism. UNIFIL said Israeli soldiers had attacked a bunker at a base where peacekeepers were sheltering, damaging vehicles and a communication system.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted one year ago when the Iranian-backed group began launching rockets at northern Israel in support of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, at the start of the Gaza war.
It has intensified in recent weeks, with Israel bombing 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.
22 killed in overnight Israeli attacks on Beirut
Overnight, 22 people were killed and 139 wounded in a strike in the heart of Lebanon's capital Beirut, caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati said. Lebanon's army said two soldiers had been killed and three others wounded when Israeli forces attacked one of its military posts in Kafra in the south.
Israel says its campaign in Lebanon aims to make northern Israel safe for tens of thousands of people forced to leave over the last year by Hezbollah rocket fire.
Its expanded operation has displaced more than 1.2 million people, according to the Lebanese government, which says more than 2,100 people have been killed and more than 10,000 wounded in over a year of fighting. The toll does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but includes scores of women and children.
Hezbollah rockets have killed at least 54 people in Israel, more than half civilians, according to Israeli authorities.
In a video released on Friday, the chief of staff of the Israeli military, Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi, said it would not stop its campaign "until we ensure that we can safely return the residents not just now, but with a future outlook."
The head of Hezbollah's media office, Mohammad Afif, promised Lebanese people displaced by Israeli attacks, most of whom are from Hezbollah's Shi'ite support base, that they would soon return to their homes.
He said the group's priority is defeating Israel militarily but it is open to diplomatic efforts to stop "the aggression."
Peacekeepers injured after falling from watchtower
The watchtower that came under Israeli fire on Friday is located at UNIFIL's main base in Naqoura. UNIFIL said an Israeli bulldozer had also knocked over barriers at UN positions near the Blue Line denoting the frontier between Lebanon and Israel, while tanks had moved into the vicinity.
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 Defence 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," Lieutenant General Sean Clancy told RTE television. "So from a military perspective, this is not an accidental act. It's a direct act."
Two Indonesian UN peacekeepers were injured on Thursday after falling from a watchtower after Israeli tank fire, after which Israel said its troops had opened fire nearby, and that Hezbollah fighters operated from areas near UNIFIL posts.
Thursday night's airstrike was the third on the centre of the Lebanese capital since Israel went on the offensive on Sept. 23.
Security sources said the target was senior Hezbollah official Wafiq Safa, and that he had survived.
A Hezbollah lawmaker visiting the site on Friday said no senior Hezbollah officials had been present at the time.
Family of 8 killed in Israeli strike
At a Beirut hospital that received dozens of wounded, a man sat in a chair in a corridor, his knees covered in white bandages, and his face and body covered with wounds.
"The situation … I don't even know how to describe it. We received three martyrs … in pieces," said Wael al-Jaroush, head of the Makassed hospital's medical department.
Among the dead were a family of eight, including three children, who had evacuated from the south, a security source said.
In northern Israel, a Thai worker was killed as a result of fallen munition, likely fired from Lebanon, the Israeli military said. It also said the Israeli air force had killed a Hezbollah commander responsible for attacks with anti-tank missiles into the area of Ramot Naftali in northern Israel.
Hezbollah issued no immediate comment on that claim.
In Iran, the Revolutionary Guards said the body of its deputy commander Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan — who was killed in Israeli strikes on Beirut on Sept. 27 along with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah — had been found. A Guards statement carried by state media said Nilforoushan's body would be moved to Iran for burial on an unspecified date.
The Middle East remains on high alert for further escalation, awaiting Israel's response to an Iranian missile barrage on Oct. 1.