US President Joe Biden said he was “absolutely, aggressively” urging Israel to stop firing on UN peacekeepers during its conflict with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, following two incidents within 48 hours.
On Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its troops were responsible for the incident in which two Sri Lankan soldiers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) were injured.
The Israeli military said IDF soldiers operating around the UNIFIL base in Naqura spotted the threat and opened fire, adding that the incident would be investigated “at the highest level.”
Two Indonesian soldiers with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) were injured on Thursday after falling from an observation tower after Israeli tanks opened fire on it.
The leaders of France, Italy and Spain issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s actions, saying they were unjustifiable and should stop immediately.
Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry said it “strongly condemns” the attack by the Israel Defense Forces that injured two soldiers.
The head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission said there was reason to believe some of the shootings targeting U.N. positions in southern Lebanon were direct, but he did not blame them.
Jean-Pierre Lacroix told the BBC’s NewsHour: “For example, we had a case where a tower was hit by fire and one of the The camera was also damaged – to us it obviously looked very much like direct fire.
As Israel continues its incursions into southern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah continue to fire missiles and rockets towards the Israeli-Lebanese border.
The Israel Defense Forces said it detected about 100 rockets entering northern Israel from Lebanon within half an hour on Friday. The Israel Defense Forces said it detected two drones flying over Lebanon and one of them was intercepted.
An Israeli attack on the southern Lebanese city of Sidon killed three people, including a two-year-old girl, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. The Lebanese military said Israeli troops attacked a military post in the southern Lebanese town of Kafra, killing two Lebanese soldiers.
In the capital, Beirut, emergency workers continued Thursday to clear debris from buildings hit by two Israeli airstrikes.
The Lebanese Prime Minister said the attack was carried out without warning, killing 22 people, all civilians, and injuring 117 others.
Israeli forces launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon last month, stepping up their response to Hezbollah’s rocket attacks.
Hezbollah and Israel have been fighting almost daily across the border since the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities last October.
The Israel Defense Forces said the U.N. post that was attacked in Naqura on Friday was about 164 feet (50m) from the source of the threat discovered by soldiers. The company said it had asked the peacekeeping force to remain in a protected area at the time.
Unifil said Israeli military vehicles broke through barriers at another U.N. site in Rabne, close to the Israeli border.
The reports said the incidents represented “a serious development”.
Lebanese Prime Minister Naguib Mikati said Friday’s attack was “a crime against the international community.”
Israel believes UNIFIL has failed to stabilize the area and has demanded that peacekeepers withdraw north to confront Hezbollah.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, reiterated Israel’s request for UNIFIL personnel to withdraw 5 kilometers (3 miles) north to “avoid danger,” but U.N. representative Jean-Pierre Lacroix said they would remain in place.
About 10,000 peacekeepers from 50 countries and about 800 civilian personnel are stationed in Lebanon.
Since 1978, they have been patrolling the area between the Litani River and the UN-recognized border between Lebanon and Israel, known as the Blue Line.
On October 8 last year, the day after Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel, Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel. The Iran-backed group said it was taking action in solidarity with the Palestinians and said it would stop firing if a ceasefire was reached between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Over the past three weeks, Israel has significantly escalated its operations against Hezbollah, ramping up air strikes in southern Lebanon and southern Beirut, assassinating Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and launching a ground invasion.
Lebanon says more than 2,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced, mainly in the latest escalation. Israeli authorities said Hezbollah rockets this week killed two Israeli civilians and a Thai national.
