&w=1024&resize=1024,0&ssl=1 "Israeli forces open fire on UN peacekeeping positions in southern Lebanon: UNIFIL | Foreign Defense Security News")
Israeli forces fired on positions held by U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon on Wednesday and Thursday, U.N. forces said, as Israel warned Lebanese civilians not to return home to the south and launched a wide-ranging offensive against Hezbollah.
UNIFIL said two peacekeepers were injured in one incident when an Israeli tank fired at a guard tower at the armed forces' headquarters in Ras al-Naqora, hitting the tower and causing them to collapse. A UN source said there were no casualties in the other two incidents.
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“Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law,” UNIFIL said in a statement, saying it was cooperating with the Israeli military.
Hezbollah said it fired a salvo of rockets at Israeli forces trying to evacuate victims from the Ras al-Naqora area on Thursday, and that it suffered a direct hit.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
However, in New York, Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said Israel was focused on fighting Hezbollah and “suggested UNIFIL move 5 km (3 miles) north to avoid danger as fighting intensifies.”
Last week, Reuters reported that the Israeli military had told UN peacekeepers to be ready to withdraw “as soon as possible to maintain security.”
Danon added that “Israel does not want to remain in Lebanon, but will do whatever is necessary to expel Hezbollah from its northern border” so that the 70,000 displaced residents can return to their homes in northern Israel.
The conflict began a year ago when Hezbollah opened fire in support of the Palestinian militant group Hamas at the beginning of the Gaza war. It escalated dramatically in recent weeks, with Israel bombing Beirut's southern suburbs, the south and the Bekaa Valley, and then sending in ground forces.
Reuters witnesses said a thick column of smoke billowed over central Beirut on Thursday after rockets were heard flying over the Lebanese capital on Thursday. It was not immediately clear what injuries he sustained.
The Middle East remains on high alert as tensions continue in the region as Israel responds to the October 1 Iranian missile attack.
Gulf states are lobbying Washington to prevent Israel from attacking Iranian oil facilities because they fear their own oil facilities could be attacked by Tehran's proxies if the conflict worsens, three Gulf sources told Reuters.
US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed possible Israeli retaliation against Iran on Wednesday, which both sides described as positive.
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Israel said its attack on Lebanon was aimed at ensuring the return home of people displaced from northern Israel by Hezbollah rocket fire. Israeli attacks in recent weeks have displaced more than a million people from Lebanon.
At least 2,169 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon over the past year, the Lebanese government said in its daily update. Most have been killed since September 27, when Israel expanded its military operations. The fees do not distinguish between civilians and veterans.
During the same period, Hezbollah's cross-border fire in Israel killed 53 people, more than half of them civilians.
In a statement, UNIFIL said Israeli forces opened fire on a UN position in Ras al-Nakorah near the border with Israel, “hitting the entrance to a bunker where peacekeepers were hiding and damaging vehicles and a communications system.”
“We saw an IDF drone flying towards the entrance to a bunker on the grounds of the UN headquarters,” UNIFIL said. Earlier in the day, Israeli forces “fired and disabled cameras monitoring the area at the site,” it added. It was concluded that Israeli forces deliberately opened fire and damaged another position.
UNIFIL was founded in 1978 and expanded in 2006 after the irregular war between Israel and Hezbollah. The main contributing countries include France, Italy, Indonesia, Malaysia and Ghana.
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said Italy had lodged a protest with Israel over the incident. The firing at the UNIFIL base was “completely unacceptable” and a clear violation of international law, it said in a statement.
The Israeli military said Thursday that airstrikes overnight and earlier in the day targeted weapons depots in Beirut's southern suburbs and in southern Lebanon, where it said Hezbollah infrastructure was hit.
The post on X said that residents of southern Lebanon were not returning to “evacuated homes in villages and towns until they receive further instructions regarding their safety.”
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Lebanon's health ministry said an overnight Israeli attack hit a civil defense center in Derdaghia, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border, killing five paramedics and rescue workers.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
Israel has dealt stunning blows to Hezbollah in recent weeks – including the killing of its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike in southern Beirut on September 27.
However, Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel and another 40 missiles were spotted crossing the border into Lebanon, some of which were intercepted and several landed in the Upper Galilee area, the Israeli military said in an update on Thursday.
