UN peacekeepers accuse Israel of ‘deliberate and direct’ attacks on Lebanon | Israel attacks Lebanon News
The Israeli army, which has hit UNIFIL positions several times, denies responsibility despite the footage.
United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon have reported another Israeli attack on their sites as ground and air strikes in Lebanon continue to claim lives.
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said on Friday that two Israeli army excavators and one bulldozer destroyed part of a fence and a concrete structure at the UN base in Ras Naqoura the previous day.
The Israeli army has banned any work after UN troops contacted them to protest, despite UNIFIL publishing a video of the incident online.
“The deliberate and direct destruction of UNIFIL property by Israeli forces is a clear violation of international law and resolution 1701,” UNIFIL said, referring to a UN Security Council resolution aimed at ending the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Statement:
Yesterday, two IDF diggers and one IDF bulldozer destroyed part of a fence and a concrete structure at the UNIFIL site in Ras Naqoura. In response to our urgent protest, the IDF has denied any activity taking place inside the UNIFIL position. pic.twitter.com/gQm02hjNTG
– UNIFIL (@UNIFIL_) November 8, 2024
Since September 30, Israel has been repeatedly demanding that the UN peacekeepers leave their internationally mandated premises so that it can freely continue its offensive in southern Lebanon.
The peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon has been targeted 40 times since then, UNIFIL deputy spokesperson Kandice Ardiel told Al Jazeera on Friday.
Ardiel said eight of the confirmed attacks came from the Israeli army. Peacekeepers have been injured and property destroyed in previous attacks.
Israel has also requested that UNIFIL evacuate 29 locations along the Blue Line, the UN-defined line of withdrawal between Israel and Lebanon, Ardiel said. Earlier, UNIFIL said Israeli forces were destroying and removing the blue barrels marking the Blue Line.
“Yesterday’s incident, like seven other similar incidents, is not a matter of peacekeepers being caught red-handed, but of deliberate and direct actions” by Israeli soldiers, UNIFIL said.
UNIFIL convoys ‘at risk’
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Friday that the organization condemned “an incident that endangered UNIFIL and left several peaceful casualties” after six Malaysian soldiers were injured on Thursday in an Israeli strike that killed three Lebanese in a car. nearby.
Borrell’s statement did not specifically mention Israel and said “all parties must ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and allow them to carry out their essential work under the mandate of UNIFIL”.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces continue to advance their ground operations in southern Lebanon and launch airstrikes across the country as Hezbollah fires rockets and drops drones at Israel.
At least three people were killed and more than 30 injured in the latest Israeli attack in Lebanon that hit two buildings in the ancient city of Tire on Friday night.
Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health announced that at least 15 people were killed and 69 injured on Thursday as a result of Israeli strikes.
Since October last year, at least 3,117 people have been killed and 13,888 injured by Israeli attacks in Lebanon, the ministry said. Among them, there are 617 women and 192 children.
Among the injured are 180 health workers. The Ministry said hospitals have been attacked 65 times.
Israel’s offensive continues across the Gaza Strip, where more than 43,000 people have been killed since October last year, nearly 70 percent of them children and women, according to the UN. This happened when famine hit northern Gaza, which has been under siege for a month.
