Qatar demands international probe for Israeli targeting of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon

By Anadolu staff

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - Qatar demanded an immediate international investigation Friday for Israel’s targeting of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

The Qatari Foreign Ministry condemned "the attack that targeted the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which resulted in injuries among (its) personnel."

It added that the attacks against UNIFIL are "a flagrant violation of the provisions of international humanitarian law and Security Council Resolution No. 1701."

The resolution demands a complete cessation of hostilities between Lebanon and Israel and the establishment of a demilitarized zone between the Blue Line -- the boundary between Lebanon and Israel -- and the Litani River, allowing only the Lebanese army and UNIFIL to possess weapons and military equipment in the area.

The ministry urged the international community for "decisive measures to compel the Israeli occupation to immediately stop its aggressive attacks and repeated violations of international law."

Israeli forces early Friday shelled an observation post belonging to UN peacekeepers at its headquarters in Naqoura in southern Lebanon, wounding two peacekeepers from the Sri Lankan contingent, according to Lebanon's state National News Agency.

Two peacekeepers were also injured in a similar attack Thursday.

Israel has mounted massive airstrikes across Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing at least 1,351 people, injuring more than 3,800 others, and displacing more than 1.2 million.

The aerial campaign is an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of its offensive on the Gaza Strip, in which Israel has killed over 42,100 people, most of them women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

Despite international warnings that the Mideast was on the brink of a regional war amid Israel’s relentless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon, it expanded the conflict by launching a ground incursion into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar