Israeli forces fire on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, wounding two

The Israeli military “repeatedly” fired at UNIFIL headquarters and positions in southern Lebanon, injuring two members of the peacekeeping force, the United Nations says, as Israel presses on with its assault on Hezbollah.

An Israeli tank “fired its weapon” at a guard tower at the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, according to UNIFIL, the UN Interim Force in the country, on Thursday, in the border town of Naqoura, killing two of its peacekeepers.

The two peacekeepers had fallen as a result of the tower attack. “The injuries are fortunately, this time, not serious, but they remain in hospital”, said UNIFIL in a statement.

The Israeli soldiers also fired on a UN position – named “1-31”- &nbsp, in the village of Labbouneh, “hitting the entrance to the bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering, and damaging vehicles and a communications system”, it said.

An Israeli military drone flew inside the UN building up to the bunker entrance, according to the peacekeeping force.

On Wednesday, Israeli soldiers had “deliberately fired at and disabled” the position’s “monitoring cameras”, it said.

The Israeli military had also “deliberately fired” on a second UN position – named 1-32A – in the border area of Ras Naqoura, where regular meetings had been held before the conflict began, “damaging lighting and a relay station”, said UNIFIL.

The Israeli military, which is expanding its military operations in Lebanon against the Iran-linked Hezbollah armed group, did not respond immediately.

According to the Reuters news agency, neither of the two attacks on UN positions on Wednesday or Thursday left any casualties.

Hezbollah claimed earlier that it had fired guided missiles at an Israeli tank as it approached Ras Naqoura before shelling an Israeli force while the force was attempting to evacuate injured soldiers.

UNIFIL, which was established in 1978 and expanded following a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, has about 10, 500 personnel, with major contributing nations including France, Italy, Indonesia, Malaysia and Ghana.

Since Israel and Hezbollah’s conflict escalated on September 23st, it has called for a ceasefire.

The UN peacekeepers’ security was “unacceptable” in terms of the Israeli military’s recent actions near a peacekeeping position in southwest Lebanon, according to the organization’s statement on Sunday.

In a letter to Israel’s military dated October 3 and seen by Reuters, &nbsp, UNIFIL&nbsp, had objected to Israeli military vehicles and troops positioning themselves “in immediate proximity” to UN positions, “thereby endangering the safety and security of&nbsp, UNIFIL&nbsp, personnel and premises”.

UNIFIL reaffirmed to the Israeli military on Thursday that any “deliberate attack” on peacekeepers “violates gravely international humanitarian law and Security Council resolution 1701.”