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Two more UN peacekeepers were wounded by Israeli troops in southern Lebanon on Friday, as explosions rocked their observation tower near the border with Israel, a day after two were injured by Israeli shelling.
Israel said the two were wounded on Friday as its forces responded to a threat. The UN Interim Force in Lebanon said another of its positions, near the Blue Line in Labbouneh, fell when an Israeli military bulldozer hit the perimeter and tanks moved nearby.
“Our peacekeepers remained at the location, and a Unifil Quick Reaction Force was dispatched to assist and reinforce the position,” Unifil said.
“This is a serious development, and Unifil reiterates that the safety and security of UN personnel and property must be guaranteed and that the inviolability of UN premises must be respected at all times. Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and Security Council Resolution 1701.”
One injured peacekeeper was taken to a hospital in Tyre, while the second was being treated in Naqoura.
The Israeli military said it was told two peacekeepers had been “inadvertently hurt” and expressed “deep concern” over such incidents. It said was conducting a review to determine what had happened.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said he had told Israel’s Minister of Defence Minister Yoav Gallant that Israel should ensure the safety of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.
“I urged ensuring the safety of Unifil forces and co-ordinating efforts to pivot from military operations to a diplomatic pathway as soon as feasible,” Mr Austin said in a statement on X.
Mr Austin and Mr Gallant were supposed to meet at the Pentagon on Wednesday but Israel postponed the visit at the last minute amid heavy fighting in Lebanon and an expected Israeli attack on Iran.
The two, who spoke on Thursday, “also discussed the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and the Secretary called for urgent steps to address it,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
This week's blasts come as Israeli forces are fighting Hezbollah in the area south of Lebanon's Litani River.
On Thursday, two Indonesian peacekeepers with were injured when the Israeli military fired at an observation tower in their compound in southern Lebanon.
The French Foreign Ministry said that the “attacks constitute serious violations of international law and must cease immediately,” adding that it condemned “deliberate Israeli fire” against Unifil.
“The Israeli authorities must explain themselves. France is therefore summoning today the Israeli ambassador to France.”
A Downing Street spokesperson meanwhile said the government was “appalled” by reports that Israel had deliberately fired at a Unifil observation post on Thursday.
In pictures – a tour with Unifil in Lebanon before Israel's invasion
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A soldier of the Spanish contingent of Unifil stands in front of the ensign of his regiment on a Unifil base close to Ghajar on the Blue Line separating Israel from Lebanon in southern Lebanon. All photos: Oliver Marsden for The National -
The Unifil base -
Unifil soldiers relax in the canteen -
Soldiers exit their UN-marked vehicles -
An Israeli missile strikes the town of Khaim, close to the Unifil base -
Soldiers service their weapons -
A soldier stands in front of UN-marked vehicles -
Captain Hector Alonso, 31 -
Colonel Juan Garcia Antonio Martinez, 50 -
A soldier exercises in the gym -
A soldier patrols the town of Aadysit Marjaayoun in southern Lebanon
