By Wassim Saifeddine
BEIRUT (AA) – Three people, including a local contractor with the UN peacekeeping mission UNIFIL, were injured on Tuesday by Israeli army fire in southern Lebanon, according to local authorities.
Two people were wounded in an Israeli airstrike in the border town of Markaba, the Health Ministry said in a statement.
A local UNIFIL contractor was also shot by an Israeli sniper in the border town of Khiyam as he was on his way to work, the state-run National News Agency reported.
The UN mission confirmed that one of its contractors was injured by gunfire.
“Earlier today, a contractor traveling to provide services to UNIFIL’s Spanish contingent was hit by gunfire near Sarda. Peacekeepers evacuated him to hospital,” UNIFIL deputy spokesperson Kandice Ardiel said.
“This is the second incident in as many days in which a contractor supporting our peacekeepers has been the victim of attack,” she added.
The UNIFIL spokesperson called on all parties to pay attention to “the immense human cost of these exchanges of fire for civilians in south Lebanon, including those supporting the men and women working for peace.”
“Attacks that harm civilians must stop. Attacks that directly or indirectly affect the ability of peacekeepers to perform their important work under resolution 1701 must stop,” Ardiel said.
Tensions have spiked along Lebanon's border with Israel amid cross-border attacks between Hezbollah and Israeli forces as Tel Aviv pressed ahead with its brutal onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 40,800 people since last Oct. 7 following an attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
According to UN figures, at least 113 civilians have been killed and nearly 112,000 others displaced by Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon since the outbreak of the cross-border clashes on Oct. 8, 2023.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala