The United Nations says Israel has fired on peacekeepers in Lebanon as diplomatic pushes intensify

The Israeli military has attacked a post of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, a long-standing peacekeeping mission that operates in a roughly 120-kilometer (75-mile) area along the country’s southern border with Israel, known as the Blue Line.

On Thursday morning, the United Nations released a statement saying that an Israeli military tank “fired on, directly hitting and causing damage to an observation tower at the UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura.” [two peacekeepers] According to the United Nations, both injured peacekeepers remain hospitalized.

This is not the first such incident between the Israeli military and UNIFIL peacekeepers in southern Lebanon in recent days. Earlier on Thursday, Israeli soldiers fired on a UNIFIL position in Labbouneh, hitting the “entrance to the bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering and damaging vehicles and a communications system,” according to the UN, which added that an Israeli military drone was approaching The bunker entrance was seen.

According to the same UN statement, Israeli military soldiers at UNIFIL’s Labbouneh post on Wednesday “deliberately shot at the position’s surveillance cameras, disabling them.” Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli soldiers “deliberately” fired on a UN position in Ras Naqoura.

“Intentional attack”

The United Nations said in its statement that “any deliberate attack on peacekeepers constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law.” [UN] Security Council Resolution 1701, which refers to a resolution adopted after the 2006 Israel-Lebanon War that implemented a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, forcing Hezbollah to withdraw north of the Litani River prompted.

The Israeli military, which recently deployed a fourth ground division to southern Lebanon to support the ground operation that began on September 30, said in a post on X on Thursday that Hezbollah was close to UNIFIL posts in Naqoura and outside the Incident on Thursday troops “instructed UN forces in the region to remain in protected areas, whereupon the [Israeli] Armed forces opened fire in the area.” The military added that it “maintains routine communications with UNIFIL” in southern Lebanon.

Israel’s ground operations in the south would be “limited, localized and targeted ground attacks” aimed at destroying Hezbollah infrastructure along the border, the Israeli military said on September 30 ahead of its ground invasion.

But last Tuesday, Israel urged residents on Lebanon’s southwest coast and south of the Awali River to evacuate the coast and stay away, signaling an expansion of the Israeli frontline.

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto described the “shootout” at Naqoura headquarters on Thursday as “unbearable.” Crosetto said in a statement that he had “protested” the incident to his Israeli counterpart and the Israeli ambassador to Israel. With around 1,068 soldiers, Italy is UNIFIL’s second largest provider of peacekeepers after Indonesia. At the beginning of September, the UNIFIL force consisted of over 10,000 peacekeepers from 50 countries.

France, which has around 673 soldiers in the mission, released a statement from its foreign ministry on Thursday expressing its “deep concern” over the incident. France “condemns any attack on the security of UNIFIL,” the Foreign Ministry said. It continues: “We are waiting for explanations from the Israeli authorities. Protecting peacekeepers is an obligation that applies to all parties to the conflict.”

Operations came to a standstill

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris, whose country contributes 370 soldiers to UNIFIL, announced

U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday that the security of peacekeepers in Lebanon was “increasingly at risk.”

Lacroix said peacekeeping operations in Lebanon had all but come to a complete standstill: “Peacekeepers were confined to their bases and spent extended periods in shelters.”

Canada’s Foreign Ministry called the Israeli military’s reported shootings of UNIFIL peacekeepers “alarming and unacceptable” in a post on the ministry’s X account on Thursday. The ministry called for the protection of peacekeepers and stressed its “full support for UNIFIL.”

The Israeli invasion of Lebanon has increased tensions between the Israeli military and UNIFIL forces, the latter having been stationed in Lebanon for over 45 years.

UNIFIL was founded in 1978 after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and was strengthened by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 after the 2006 Israel-Lebanon War. UNIFIL’s mission is to “ensure Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, contribute to the demilitarization of Hezbollah, and support the Lebanese army and government in doing so.” Retain authority,” the UN website says.

However, UNIFIL’s ability to properly fulfill its mandate is limited due to the corrupt and ineffective state of the Lebanese government and Hezbollah’s military presence in the south of the country.