U.N. forces in southern Lebanon have said they would remain in position despite Israel’s expanding cross-border ground operations there.
Two U.N. peacekeepers were hospitalized on Oct. 10 after an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tank fired on and toppled their watchtower in southern Lebanon, according to a U.N. multinational peacekeeping mission.
The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), a U.N. mission in the country, reported the Israeli tank fire incident on Thursday.
“This morning, two peacekeepers were injured after an IDF Merkava tank fired its weapon toward an observation tower at UNIFIL’s headquarters in Naqoura, directly hitting it and causing them to fall. The injuries are fortunately, this time, not serious, but they remain in hospital,” the UNIFIL said in a statement.
UNIFIL said Israeli forces targeted another U.N. outpost in Labbouneh, hitting a bunker where UNIFIL troops were sheltering and damaging vehicles and a communications system. The U.N. force said an Israeli drone also flew inside the Labbouneh outpost and approached the bunker entrance.
UNIFIL reported Israeli troops also “deliberately fired at and disabled” perimeter-monitoring cameras at a U.N. position on Oct. 9 and “deliberately fired on” another U.N. position in Ras Naqoura.
“We remind the IDF and all actors 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 south Lebanon to support a return to stability under Security Council mandate. Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and of Security Council resolution 1701,” UNIFIL said.
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The U.N. force said it was following up with the IDF after these incidents.
The Epoch Times contacted the IDF for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
UNIFIL was originally established in 1978 to confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon after they invaded the country earlier that year. Since then, UNIFIL’s mission has expanded, and the force now monitors for compliance with the 2006 U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701.
Resolution 1701 requires Israeli forces to remain within Israel and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, while Hezbollah and other Lebanese armed non-state factions must remain north of the Litani River.
While UNIFIL’s mission includes upholding Resolution 1701, Hezbollah—an internationally designated terrorist organization—has not fully complied with its obligations under the agreement.
Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has been on the rise over the past year. Hezbollah began firing rockets at Shebaa Farms—an Israeli-controlled area of the disputed Golan Heights—on Oct. 8, 2023, claiming solidarity with the Palestinian people just hours after Hamas gunmen stormed into southern Israel in a series of mass killings on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes in Gaza.
Israeli forces returned fire on Hezbollah after the Oct. 8 attack, and the two sides have continued to trade fire for more than a year since. Israeli forces have ramped up their campaign of airstrikes across the country in recent weeks and began deploying ground troops across the border into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1.
