The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported new Israeli fire on a Blue Helmet position in southern Lebanon on Friday, the day after a diplomatic protest after similar shots wounded two Indonesians. At noon on Friday the Quai d’Orsay announced the summoning of the Israeli ambassador to France. The French Ministry of the Armed Forces also confirmed to Le Parisien that no French were among those injured yesterday and Friday.
In a statement, the ministry said it “condemns in the strongest terms the intentional and systematic firing by the Israeli army against the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the latest of which targeted ( …) the Sri Lankan base, causing injuries.” The official agency ANI reports for its part that “an Israeli Merkava tank targeted a UNIFIL tower (…) wounding soldiers of the Sri Lankan contingent”. A source in the The United Nations confirmed that a “watchtower”, located at the force’s main base in Naqoura, was targeted.
“Recently, news arrived of damage to the UNIFIL outpost in the Naqoura area,” the Israeli army told the newspaper. Times of Israel. “According to the report, two UNIFIL personnel were injured due to damage to the outpost. The incident remains under investigation and details are under review.”
Two peacekeepers from the United Nations force (UNIFIL) deployed between Lebanon and Israel were injured after Israeli tank fire on their headquarters in southern Lebanon on Thursday, the UN mission said on Thursday. They were hospitalized with minor injuries. This contingent of 10,000 soldiers, mostly European, deployed in the Land of the Cedars to enforce the 2006 ceasefire between Hezbollah and the Jewish state, has been on the front line since the intensification of Israeli attacks against Hezbollah at the end of September and since the operation ground bomb launched by the IDF on 30 September.
Israeli fire against peacekeepers is “intolerable” and must not be repeated, denounced United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
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