Two UN peacekeepers were injured on Friday by an Israeli strike near their watchtower in south Lebanon, the Israeli military said, while blasts shook the peacekeepers’ main base in the area for the second time in 48 hours as Israeli forces battled Hizbullah.
The Unifil force said the incident was a “serious development”, and that the security of UN personnel and property must be guaranteed.
In a statement on Friday afternoon, the Defence Forces confirmed that all Irish personnel are well and accounted for, and had not been directly affected by incoming fire.
France summoned Israel’s ambassador. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said he had urged his counterpart in Israel to ensure the safety of Unifil forces in Lebanon. Russia said it was “outraged” and demanded that Israel refrain from “hostile actions” against the peacekeepers.
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UN secretary-general António Guterres had already condemned the attacks on UN personnel.
The Israeli military expressed “deep concern” and said two peacekeepers had been injured by Israeli fire as it was engaging Hizbullah. It said they had been warned hours earlier to take shelter, however. The United Nations said both were from Sri Lanka.
The conflict between Israel and Hizbullah erupted one year ago when the Iranian-backed group began launching rockets at northern Israel in support of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, at the start of the Gaza war.
It has intensified in recent weeks, with Israel bombing southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the Bekaa Valley, killing many of Hizbullah’s top leaders, and sending ground troops across the border. Hizbullah for its part has fired rockets deeper into Israel.
Overnight, 22 people were killed and 139 wounded in a strike in the heart of Lebanon’s capital Beirut, caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati said. Lebanon’s army said two soldiers had been killed and three others wounded when Israeli forces attacked one of its military posts in Kafra in the south.
Israel says its campaign in Lebanon aims to make northern Israel safe for tens of thousands of people forced to leave over the last year by Hizbullah rocket fire.
Its expanded operation has displaced more than 1.2 million people, according to the Lebanese government, which says more than 2,100 people have been killed and more than 10,000 wounded in over a year of fighting. The toll does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but includes scores of women and children.
Hizbullah rockets have killed at least 54 people in Israel, more than half civilians, according to Israeli authorities.
In a video released on Friday, the chief of staff of the Israeli military, Lieut Gen Herzi Halevi, said it would not stop its campaign “until we ensure that we can safely return the residents not just now, but with a future outlook”.
The head of Hizbullah’s media office, Mohammad Afif, promised that Lebanese people displaced by Israeli attacks, most of whom are from Hizbullah’s Shi’ite support base, would soon return to their homes.
He said the group’s priority is defeating Israel militarily but it is open to diplomatic efforts to stop “the aggression”.
The watchtower that came under Israeli fire on Friday is located at Unifil’s main base in Naqoura. Unifil said an Israeli bulldozer had also knocked over barriers at UN positions near the Blue Line denoting the frontier between Lebanon and Israel, while tanks had moved into the vicinity.
Two Indonesian UN peacekeepers were injured on Thursday after falling from a watchtower after Israeli tank fire, after which Israel said its troops had opened fire nearby, and that Hizbullah fighters operated from areas near Unifil posts.
Unifil has more than 10,000 personnel, with Italy, France, Malaysia, Indonesia and India among the biggest contributors.
Thursday night’s air strike was the third on the centre of the Lebanese capital since Israel went on the offensive on September 23rd.
Security sources said the target was senior Hizbullah official Wafiq Safa, and that he had survived.
A Hizbullah lawmaker visiting the site on Friday said no senior Hizbullah officials had been present at the time.
At a Beirut hospital that received dozens of wounded, a man sat in a chair in a corridor, his knees covered in white bandages, and his face and body covered with wounds.
“The situation ... I don’t even know how to describe it. We received three martyrs ... in pieces,” said Wael al-Jaroush, head of the Makassed hospital’s medical department.
Among the dead were a family of eight, including three children, who had evacuated from the south, a security source said.
In northern Israel, a Thai worker was killed as a result of fallen munition, likely fired from Lebanon, the Israeli military said. It also said the Israeli air force had killed a Hizbullah commander responsible for attacks with anti-tank missiles into the area of Ramot Naftali in northern Israel.
Hizbullah issued no immediate comment on that claim.
In Iran, the Revolutionary Guards said the body of its deputy commander Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan – who was killed in Israeli strikes on Beirut on September 27th along with Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah – had been found. A Guards statement carried by state media said Mr Nilforoushan’s body would be moved to Iran for burial on an unspecified date.
The Middle East remains on high alert for further escalation, awaiting Israel’s response to an Iranian missile barrage on October 1st.– Reuters