Four United Nations military observers were injured Saturday while patrolling the southern Lebanese border after a shell exploded near them, the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said.
The military observers are part of the United Nations overseeing the truce, which supports the United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL.
Local Lebanese media, citing security officials, said an Israeli drone strike targeted the observers in the southern village of Wadi Katmoun, near the border town of Rmeich. Hezbollah-run Al-Manar TV said the drone strike injured three Australian, Chilean and Norwegian officers, as well as a Lebanese interpreter.
The Israeli military said on social media platform »
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said they were “investigating the origin of the explosion.”
“The targeting of peacekeepers is unacceptable,” Tenenti told The Associated Press. “We reiterate our call to all stakeholders to cease the current violent exchanges of fire before more people are needlessly injured.”
This happened like Clashes between the Israeli army and Hezbollah militants intensified these last weeks. The two camps exchange fire from the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza erupted, sparking concerns that near-daily clashes along the border could escalate into a full-scale war as tens of thousands of people were displaced by the violence.
UNIFIL was established to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after the 1978 Israeli invasion. The UN expanded its mission after the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, allowing peacekeepers to deploy along the Israeli border to help the Lebanese army expand its authority in the south of the country for the first time in decades.
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