An Israeli tank fired on a guard tower at the UN peacekeepers’ headquarters in Naqoura, southern Lebanon, on Thursday, and two peacekeepers fell from the structure. Both are in hospital. “The injuries are fortunately, this time, not serious,” the force said in a statement.
The peacekeepers belong to UNIFIL, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon. The United Nations says Israeli forces “repeatedly” fired at its headquarters and positions as Israel presses its assault on Hezbollah.
Fire at the bunker
A second incident hit a UN position known as 1-31, in the village of Labbouneh. UNIFIL said Israeli soldiers struck the entrance to a bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering, and damaged vehicles and a communications system. It also reported seeing an Israeli drone fly inside the position as far as the bunker entrance.
The day before, on Wednesday, Israeli soldiers had “deliberately fired at and disabled” the position’s monitoring cameras. UNIFIL added that the Israeli military had “deliberately fired” on position 1-32A in Ras Naqoura, where regular meetings were held before the conflict began, damaging lighting and a relay station. Reuters reported that no casualties came from the two attacks on the UN positions.
The Israeli military offered no immediate comment.
What UNIFIL says
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told Al Jazeera the latest attack was a “very serious” development. The force is talking to Israeli authorities “to understand what happened,” he said, and “targeting peacekeepers is a very serious violation, not only of Resolution 1701 but also of international humanitarian law.”
Israel had earlier asked the peacekeepers to leave certain positions along the Blue Line. They stayed. “It’s important for the UN flag to fly in [the] south of Lebanon,” Tenenti said. If the mission becomes impossible to run there, he added, the Security Council will have to decide what comes next.
The warnings had been building. In a letter to the Israeli military dated October 3, seen by Reuters, UNIFIL objected to vehicles and troops parked “in immediate proximity” to UN positions. On Sunday it said it was “deeply concerned” by Israeli activity near a peacekeeper position in the southwest.
Reaction from Rome and Paris
Italy’s defence minister, Guido Crosetto, called the shooting “intolerable” and said it was “not an accident”. He said he protested to Israel’s defence minister and summoned the Israeli ambassador.
France said it was waiting for explanations from Israel. Its foreign ministry condemned “any attack on the security of UNIFIL” and said none of its 700 troops in the mission was wounded. “The protection of peacekeepers is an obligation that applies to all parties to a conflict,” the ministry said.
UNIFIL was established in 1978 and expanded after the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. It has about 10,500 personnel, with France, Italy, Indonesia, Malaysia and Ghana among the main contributors. The force has been calling for a ceasefire since the escalation between Israel and Hezbollah on September 23.
Hezbollah said earlier it had hit an Israeli tank advancing toward Ras Naqoura with guided missiles, then fired a missile salvo at an Israeli force trying to pull wounded soldiers from the area.
