By Merve Aydogan
HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - The Foreign Ministry of Canada strongly denounced the Israeli army's repeated attacks Thursday on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon after two members of the international force were injured by Israeli tank fire.
"The IDF firing on UNIFIL peacekeepers and first responders in Lebanon is alarming and unacceptable," it wrote on X.
Reiterating Canada's "full support for UNIFIL and its critical role in contributing to a diplomatic settlement consistent with UNSCR 1701," the ministry urged "the protection of peacekeepers and humanitarian workers."
Resolution 1701 demands a complete cessation of hostilities between Lebanon and Israel, and the establishment of a demilitarized zone between the Blue Line -- the de facto 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.
Canada encouraged all parties "to comply with international humanitarian law."
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said earlier Thursday that its headquarters in the southern Lebanese city of Naqoura and two nearby sites have been struck by Israeli forces.
On Thursday morning, an Israeli Merkava tank fired on an observation tower, striking it directly and causing two peacekeepers to fall, hospitalizing them with minor injuries, UNIFIL said in a lengthy statement.
Israel has mounted massive airstrikes across Lebanon against what it claims are Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing at least 1,323 people, injuring over 3,700 others, and displacing more than 1.2 million.
The aerial campaign is an escalation in a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Tel Aviv’s brutal offensive against the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 42,000 people, mostly women and children, following Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack.
Despite international warnings that the Middle East region was 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.