Germany says Israel’s shelling of UN peacekeepers 'unacceptable’

By Anadolu staff

BERLIN (AA) - Germany heavily criticized Israel on Friday for targeting the positions of UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.

“Israel has the right to defend itself against Hezbollah’s attacks. But shelling UN peacekeepers is unacceptable,” the German Foreign Ministry said on X.

“The safety of UNIFIL personnel in Lebanon must be assured. We expect the incident to be fully investigated and clarified,” the ministry said.

Israeli forces early Friday fired at an observation post belonging to UNIFIL at its headquarters in Naqoura, southern Lebanon, wounding two peacekeepers from the Sri Lankan contingent.

Two peacekeepers were injured in a similar attack on Thursday.

The strikes came as Israel is continuing its weeks-long campaign of air and ground attacks in Lebanon, while also carrying out its ongoing strikes on Gaza.

Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah escalated to an all-time high last month after Israeli strikes killed Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah and top commanders.

At least 1,323 people were killed and 3,700 others were injured in Israeli attacks in the past couple of weeks, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.