Israeli airstrike hits near headquarters of UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon

By Wassim Seifeddine

BEIRUT (AA) – An Israeli airstrike struck near the headquarters of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) late Thursday, according to the Lebanese National News Agency.

The airstrike in the Naqoura area of southern Lebanon follows UNIFIL's condemnation earlier in the day of an Israeli tank firing deliberately at one of its watchtowers at the mission's headquarters, wounding two peacekeepers.

Another UNIFIL position in Labbouneh came under Israeli fire, damaging vehicles and a communications system, the force added.

“Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and of Security Council Resolution 1701,” it said.

Adopted on Aug. 11, 2006, the resolution calls for a complete cessation of hostilities between Lebanon and Israel.

It also calls for Israel to withdraw behind the Blue Line and disarmament of the region between this line and the Litani River in Lebanon, allowing only the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL to possess weapons and military equipment in the area.

The attack on the UNIFIL base has drawn widespread international condemnation, with Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto saying it could constitute a war crime.

Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon recommended that UNIFIL relocate five kilometers (3.1 miles) north to avoid danger as fighting intensifies.

In response, UN spokesman Farhan Haq told a news conference that UNIFIL has “mandated tasks.”

"While we continue to assess the safety and security of our peacekeeping forces, it's important that they also fulfill their mandate," he said, affirming that UNIFIL is staying in its position.

Israel has been mounting massive airstrikes across Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23 that have killed more than 1,351 people and injured over 3,800.​​​​​​​

The aerial campaign is an escalation of the year-long cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Tel Aviv’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 42,000 people, mostly women and children, since a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.

The overall death toll from Israeli attacks on Lebanon has risen to 2,169, with 10,212 injured since Oct. 8, 2023, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Despite international warnings that the Middle East is on the brink of a regional war amid Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, Tel Aviv expanded the conflict by launching a ground invasion into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio