ReutersThe United Nations peacekeeping agency in southern Lebanon said four of its soldiers were injured when a rocket hit a base, one of three separate incidents in which its troops and bases were hit on Tuesday. Firing was done.
The United Nations Transitional Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said four Ghanaian peacekeepers were injured, three of whom required hospital treatment, after a rocket hit a base east of the village of Ramiah near the border with Israel. The severity of their injuries is not known.
UNIFIL also said a base in Shamaa had been damaged by rocket fire, with “non-state actors inside Lebanon” possibly responsible. No one was injured.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), which has been conducting ground attacks against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, blamed the Lebanese armed group for both incidents of rocket fire. Hezbollah did not comment.
Also on Tuesday, a UNIFIL patrol was fired upon as the group passed through a road northeast of Khairbat Slim village, causing no injuries.
In a statement posted on social media, UNIFIL condemned the attacks on its people and infrastructure.
The statement said that the pattern of direct or indirect attacks against peacekeepers must stop immediately.
“Any attack against peacekeepers is a clear violation of international law and Resolution 1701, which is the basis of UNIFIL’s current mandate.”
Under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, the UN aimed to create a zone in the south free of armed forces other than the Lebanese army.
Israel, however, accuses UNIFIL of turning a blind eye to Hezbollah’s advances, which are now outpacing the official Lebanese army. Hezbollah has been outlawed as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United Kingdom, the United States and other countries.
Tensions have risen in recent months between Israel and the United Nations over its peacekeeping operations in southern Lebanon, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling for the withdrawal of troops from “war zones.”
A UNIFIL spokesman in Geneva said UN peacekeepers were seeing rising levels of violence, with “huge, shocking” destruction across the Blue Line – the UN-recognised border with Israel. And separates Lebanon.
Israel’s stated goal of launching ground attacks and increasing airstrikes on Hezbollah targets is to allow the return of some 60,000 residents displaced by Hezbollah rocket fire from communities in the country’s north. .
The Lebanese group launched its campaign the day after Hamas attacks on southern Israel last year, saying it was working to show solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Israeli attacks in Lebanon last year killed more than 3,840 people and wounded nearly 15,000 others, according to the Lebanese health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
On Tuesday, the Lebanese army said three of its soldiers were killed in an Israeli attack on a military base in the town of Safarand. The Ministry of Health said that seventeen other people, including nearby civilians, were injured in the attack.
Israeli attacks have displaced more than one million people, adding further pressure to a country already struggling to cope after years of severe economic crisis.
Israeli officials say that Hezbollah’s attacks have killed at least 31 soldiers and 45 civilians inside Israel. Another 45 Israeli soldiers have been killed in fighting in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military has destroyed much of Hezbollah’s infrastructure and killed several of its leaders, but the group continues to carry out daily attacks, albeit with less intensity.
Ceasefire efforts between Israel and Hezbollah have intensified with the Lebanese government. Response to the draft treaty submitted by the United States.
