UN peacekeepers injured
after Israeli tank fires at
HQ in Lebanon
Today’s incident is the most serious reported by the mission since rejecting the army’s demands to relocate.
hitting its positions.repeatedly
It is the most serious incident reported by the mission since it said last week it had rejected Israeli demands to
from some of its positions.relocate
Unifil, which has about 10,000 peacekeepers stationed in south Lebanon, has called for a ceasefire since an escalation between Israel and Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah on Sept 23, after a year of cross-border fire.
the force said, using an acronym for the Israeli military.This morning, two peacekeepers were injured after an IDF Merkava tank fired its weapon towards an observation tower at Unifil’s headquarters in Naqura, directly hitting it and causing them to fall,
The two peacekeepers did not suffer serious injuries,
, it said.but they remain in hospital
A Unifil spokesman said they were Indonesian.
According to Unifil, the Israeli military also hit another position in Ras Naqura, further to the south, today.
The peacekeeping force said it hit
.the entrance to the bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering, and damaging vehicles and a communications system
it said.An IDF drone was observed flying inside the UN position up to the bunker entrance,
the force said.Unifil’s Naqura headquarters and nearby positions have been repeatedly hit,
Yesterday,
, it added.IDF soldiers deliberately fired at and disabled the position’s perimeter-monitoring cameras
They also deliberately fired on (a site) where regular tripartite meetings were held before the conflict began, damaging lighting and a relay station.
it said.We remind the IDF and all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN premises at all times,
The defence minister of Italy, which along with Indonesia is among Unifil’s largest troop contributors, summoned the Israeli ambassador today after the peacekeepers were wounded, a government source told AFP.
Unifil last week said the Israeli military, before it began ground operations inside Lebanon, had asked the peacekeepers to
from some positions.relocate
The peacekeeping mission rejected the demand, which the president of Ireland, Michael Higgins, called
.an insult to the most important global institution
Ireland has about 370 troops in the mission.
On Sunday Unifil warned that Israeli operations near one of its positions southeast of Maroun al-Ras were
and compromising the Blue Helmets’ safety.extremely dangerous
Maroun al-Ras is about 27km east of Naqura.
Israel has pounded what it says are Hezbollah positions in Lebanon in the past two weeks, killing more than 1,200 people and displacing more than a million people from their homes, according to official figures.
It has said it is carrying out
incursions across its northern border, while Hezbollah has repeatedly said it was firing on Israeli soldiers trying to advance in the area.limited
Earlier today, Hezbollah said that it has destroyed an Israeli tank advancing towards Ras al-Naqura, and that it had fired rockets at Israeli troops who then tried to retrieve their wounded.
The Iran-backed group also said it fired rockets at Israel troops in another Lebanese area along the frontier called Mais al-Jabal.
It said it fired rockets at several areas in northern Israel, including one area north of the city of Haifa.
Unifil was set up in 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon in reprisal for a Palestinian attack.
It was bolstered in Security Council Resolution 1701 after Hezbollah and Israel fought a war in 2006, and its peacekeepers are tasked with monitoring the ceasefire between the two sides.
Somehow, had the feeling the chosen people is employing salami slicing tactic, to cause some level of injuries, but not death, to push the UNFIL out of the way, to avoid larger international backlash...that is, just enough to get away with their action, then another, then another...
ReplyDeletehttps://x.com/MyLordBebo/status/1844653936931635318?s=19
🇮🇱🇺🇳🇱🇰🚨‼️ Israeli attack on UNIFIL forces injures two Sri Lankan peacekeepers by tank shell fragments!
A new Israeli attack targeted the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), resulting in injuries to members of the Sri Lankan contingent.
The soldiers were hit by fragments from an Israeli tank shell that was fired at one of UNIFIL's observation towers in Naqoura.