"Unbearable"
UN soldiers in Lebanon shot at again
On Friday, the Israeli military once again fired on an observation post of the UN peacekeeping mission UNIFIL at its headquarters in Naqoura in southern Lebanon. Blue helmets from Sri Lanka were injured. The Israeli armed forces have since reacted.
Several states, including Austria, condemned the shelling. UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the incident as "intolerable". Despite the current situation, however, the peacekeeping forces intend to remain on the ground.
The Israeli army confirmed the incident and expressed its deepest regret. The matter is being thoroughly investigated at the highest level of command, the armed forces announced. At the same time, they emphasized that Hezbollah was operating in the immediate vicinity of blue helmet positions, putting them at considerable risk.
Two explosions at observation post
The soldiers of the observer mission were injured when two explosions occurred near an observation post at the headquarters in Naqoura in the morning, UNIFIL announced. Several protective walls also collapsed at a UN post near Labbouneh, not far from the Lebanese-Israeli border, when an Israeli military bulldozer hit them and Israeli tanks approached the post. According to UNIFIL, this was a "serious development". Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a serious violation of international humanitarian law and UN Resolution 1701.
The UN blue helmets must be protected, Guterres said to Israel on the sidelines of an ASEAN summit in Laos. An escalation of the Middle East conflict is a "serious threat to global security" and everything must be done to avoid an "all-out war" in Lebanon, the UN chief demanded.
Four attacks onUNIFILpositions
According to UN sources, Israeli troops fired on UNIFIL positions four times this week, injuring four blue helmet soldiers. These were the first casualties in the ranks of the UNIFIL mission since the start of Israel's ground offensive in Lebanon against the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia around a week ago.
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