UN peacekeepers in Lebanon accuse Israeli forces of a “deliberate” attack on the watchtower

UN peacekeepers in Lebanon said Israeli forces fired on one of their stations in a “deliberate” attack, damaging a watchtower.

Wednesday’s alleged dismissal comes amid a standoff between the U.N. mission and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has accused it of providing “a human shield” to the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as Unifil, said in a post on X that its peacekeepers observed an Israeli tank firing at its watchtower near Kfar Kela in southern Lebanon. Two cameras were destroyed and the tower was damaged, it said.

“Once again we see direct and apparently deliberate fire on a Unifil position,” the mission said in a statement.

Israel has previously called on the United Nations to relocate members of the Unifil peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon at least three miles north during its ground invasion, after five peacekeepers suffered injuries in an Israeli attack on Hezbollah.

Unifil said its troops had come under Israeli attack on several occasions, although Israel denied reports of those incidents.

The mission, established in 1978 to monitor Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon, said it would remain on the southern border despite Israeli aggression.

“We remind the IDF of this [Israel Defense Forces] and all concerned fulfill their obligation to ensure the security of United Nations personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of United Nations premises at all times,” the mission said.

Unifil consists of 10,541 peacekeepers from 50 countries. The United Kingdom is sending one peacekeeper to Unifil, compared to about 1,000 from Italy, more than 600 from France and about 300 from Ireland.

The peacekeepers are now operating in a 410 square mile area between the Blue Line and the Litani River in southern Lebanon. The Blue Line is a line mapped by the United Nations that separates Lebanon from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israeli forces withdrew to the Blue Line when they left southern Lebanon in 2000. According to Reuters, any unauthorized crossing of the Blue Line by land or air from any side is a violation of Security Council Resolution 1701.

Over the weekend, the mission said Israeli troops “forcibly entered a Unifil position near the village of Ramyah” with two tanks, crossing the Blue Line. The mission accused the troops of firing smoke projectiles near the peacekeepers, affecting at least 15 personnel.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant on Wednesday and “reiterated the importance of taking all necessary measures to ensure the security of Unifil forces and the Lebanese Armed Forces,” according to the Defense Department.

Similarly, 16 EU states called for revised rules of engagement in Lebanon, adding that they need to be more effective in light of recent attacks.

“The message we want to send to Israel is: if you stop your army, the United Nations can also change its approach in this part of Lebanon so that we can peacefully achieve what you are trying to do now by destroying the bases of the “To attack Hezbollah militarily,” said Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto.

Earlier on Wednesday, after accusing Unifil of failing to keep armed fighters out of the border area, Israel struck a more conciliatory tone.

“The State of Israel attaches great importance to Unifil’s activities and has no intention of harming the organization or its personnel,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said.

Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes attacked Beirut’s southern suburbs. This was the first attack on the city since October 10, when two attacks near the city center killed 22 people and brought down entire buildings in a densely populated neighborhood.

Israeli operations in Lebanon killed at least 2,350 people and displaced more than 1.2 million people last year, according to the country’s health ministry.