U.N. says Israeli forces battling Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon fire on UNIFIL peacekeepers, wounding two
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said Thursday that Israeli forces had opened fire on several of its installations in the area, as tension between the global body and Israel mounted amid escalating Israeli military operations against the Iran-backed group Hezbollah.
"UNIFIL's Naqoura headquarters and nearby positions have been repeatedly hit. This morning, two peacekeepers were injured after an IDF [Israel Defense Forces] Merkava tank fired its weapon toward an observation tower at UNIFIL's headquarters in Naqoura, directly hitting it and causing them to fall," the UNIFIL mission said in a statement posted on social media. "The injuries are fortunately, this time, not serious, but they remain in hospital."
In a statement, the IDF said Hezbollah "operates from within and near civilian areas in southern Lebanon, including areas near UNIFIL posts" and the IDF "maintains routine communication with UNIFIL."
"This morning (Thursday), IDF troops operated in the area of Naqoura, next to a UNIFIL base," the statement said. "Accordingly, the IDF instructed the UN forces in the area to remain in protected spaces, following which the forces opened fire in the area."
"We remind the IDF and all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN premises at all times," UNIFIL said Thursday.
Several hundred of the UNIFIL forces deployed across southern Lebanon are Irish, but the country's military said Thursday that none had been injured by IDF fire, and none of their positions targeted. Ireland's leader, Simon Harris, released a statement, nonetheless, saying he was "deeply concerned by reports that the Israeli Defence Forces have fired at UNIFIL positions at its headquarters in Naqoura."
"Firing on peacekeepers can never be tolerated or acceptable," said Harris. "The Blue Helmet worn by UN peacekeepers must be sacrosanct. They are serving on behalf of the international community in some of the most challenging places in the world. They are not combatants, and their role must be respected at all times."
Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said reports about UNIFIL being targeted "are concerning," but did not comment on it further at a briefing Thursday.
UNFIL said among the incidents in recent days, "IDF soldiers deliberately fired at and disabled" perimeter-monitoring cameras operated by the peacekeeping mission, and "they also deliberately fired on UNP 1-32A," a military facility in Naqoura, where it said "regular Tripartite meetings were held before the conflict began," damaging lighting and a relay station."
Italy also protested to Israel about its troops firing on U.N. forces, the Reuters news agency said, quoting Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto as saying any fire at UNIFIL bases was "totally unacceptable" and a clear violation of international law.
The French foreign ministry also issued a statement Thursday voicing its "deep concern following the Israeli shots that hit" the UNIFIL forces, saying it "condemns any attack on the security of UNIFIL" and was waiting for "explanations from the Israeli authorities." The ministry said none of the 700 French peacekeepers deployed with the mission were among those wounded.
The UNIFIL mission has been deployed in southern Lebanon for more than 45 years, but tension between Israel and the peacekeeping force has increased as the IDF has stepped up its assault on Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The U.N. force has been tasked since 1978 with ensuring security on the Lebanese side of the so-called Blue Line, the de-facto border established by U.N. resolutions to end a previous war between Israel and Hezbollah, when the IDF pulled out of Lebanon. Israeli officials have recently accused UNIFIL of failing in its mission, allowing Hezbollah to entrench for decades along the border.
IDF operations — both devastating airstrikes and ground operations, have increased dramatically over the last two weeks, with thousands of Israeli forces deployed to the northern border. At least 10 IDF soldiers have been killed in the operations. The airstrikes have also hit the southern Beirut suburbs, which, along with the south, have long been considered Hezbollah strongholds, and the Bekaa Valley east of the capital.
A standoff between UNIFIL and Israel has been playing out for weeks, since the IDF sent in ground forces. UNIFIL forces have remained in their posts across southern Lebanon during the escalating operations, despite warnings to pull back.
The U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon, and the head of UNIFIL, called on Tuesday for an urgent negotiated solution to the crisis along the Israel-Lebanon border. The statement from Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and UNIFIL commander Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro came exactly one year after Hezbollah started launching rockets and drones at northern Israel in support of its Hamas allies in the Gaza Strip.
At the end of September, with its war against Hamas in Gaza still raging, Israel dramatically ramped up its fight against Hezbollah — a powerful, well-armed Iranian proxy group deeply embedded in Lebanon's politics — in response to the group launching more than 10,000 rockets at Israel in support of Hamas over the last year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the objective of the operations across the Blue Line is to drive Hezbollah fighters and weapons back far enough from Israel's northern border to stop the hail of rocket fire, to enable tens of thousands of Israelis to return to their deserted homes in the region. The IDF said the cross-border ground operations, launched at the end of September in southern Lebanon, would be "limited, localized, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence."
Lebanese officials say Israel's military has killed at least 2,141 people in the country since Oct. 8, 2024 – about half of them since the assault escalated less than two weeks ago, and at least 22 in strikes on Wednesday alone. More than 10,000 others have been wounded, according to the country's health ministry.
"Too many lives have been lost, uprooted, and devastated, while civilians on both sides of the Blue Line are left wanting for security and stability," the two U.N. officials said in their Tuesday statement. "Today, one year later, the near-daily exchanges of fire have escalated into a relentless military campaign whose humanitarian impact is nothing short of catastrophic…A negotiated solution is the only pathway to restore the security and stability that civilians on both sides so desperately want and deserve."
What is UNIFIL?
UNIFIL is the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. The peacekeeping mission was established in 1978 as part of the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon. Its mission is to help the Lebanese government return to authority in the area, and restore international peace and security.
UNIFIL peacekeepers are also tasked with making sure their area of operation is free of hostile activities of any kind and to protect humanitarian workers and civilians under imminent threat of physical violence.
On October 1, Israel notified UNIFIL of its intention to begin limited ground incursions in southern Lebanon. The Irish military said previously that its troops deployed with UNIFIL "remain steadfast in their determination and resilence to fulfill the mission."
UNIFIL has about 10,500 peacekeepers from 50 countries. IDF ground forces have been operating close to UN Post 6-52 recently, where about 30 Irish UNIFIL peacekeepers are stationed. Ireland's leader said Thursday that all of the Irish forces in Lebanon were "continuing to carry out their mission with distinction, despite the extremely difficult circumstances."
Since Israel launched its incursion into southern Lebanon, there have been clashes between IDF troops and Hezbollah in the town of Maroun El-Ras, Yaroun and Naqoura, and UNIFIL has called the situation dangerous and unacceptable.
What is the Blue Line?
UNIFIL peacekeepers operate within the area marked by the 75-mile long Blue Line, in southern Lebanon. It is not an official international border, but has been intended for almost five decades to keep Lebanese and Israeli armed forces at a safe distance from each other.
Either side, Israel or Hezbollah, crossing or firing across the Blue Line without permission from the Lebanese government is a violation of U.N. Resolution 1701, though such crossfire has been a near daily occurrence since Oct. 8, 2023. The frontier is also sometimes crossed by Lebanese farmers and villagers, because it is not always clearly marked.