Beirut, Oct 11 (EFE).- At least two UN peacekeepers were injured on Friday in another Israeli attack on the UN peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL) in southern Lebanon, marking the fourth such incident in two days.
According to the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA), the attack occurred when an alleged Israeli Merkava tank fired on a UNIFIL tower along the road connecting Naqoura, near a Lebanese Army checkpoint, wounding two soldiers from the Sri Lankan battalion.
State media also reported that “enemy forces fired an artillery shell at the main entrance of UNIFIL’s headquarters in Naqoura, causing damage to the entrance.”
Israel has not yet responded to the reports, and UNIFIL has not commented on this latest incident, which comes just 24 hours after two other peacekeepers were injured in a similar attack.
On Thursday, the Israeli army admitted to firing near UNIFIL’s base in Naqoura, where two Indonesian peacekeepers were slightly wounded. However, it accused the Lebanese group Hezbollah of operating near UN positions.
UNIFIL also reported that Israeli soldiers opened fire on a Blue Helmets position in Naqoura on Thursday, striking the entrance to a bunker where international troops were sheltering. Several vehicles and a communications system were damaged in the attack.
“(Israeli) soldiers deliberately fired at and disabled the position’s perimeter-monitoring cameras. They also deliberately fired on a UN post in Ras Naqoura, where regular tripartite meetings were held before the conflict began, damaging lighting and a relay station,” the mission noted.
The UN mission reminded Israel and all parties in the conflict 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.
“UNIFIL peacekeepers are present in southern Lebanon to support a return to stability under a Security Council mandate,” the mission said.
The UN warned that any “deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and Security Council resolutions.”
Ten days ago, Israel launched a series of ground operations in “limited” areas of Lebanese territory near the shared border, coinciding with an intense bombing campaign in that region, as well as in eastern Lebanon and the suburbs of Beirut. EFE
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