UN mission says its headquarters repeatedly shelled amid Lebanon assault

By Amer Solyman

BEIRUT (AA) – The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said Thursday that its headquarters in southern Lebanon has been repeatedly shelled amid an Israeli onslaught on the country.

“This morning, two peacekeepers were injured after an Israeli Merkava tank fired its weapon toward an observation tower at UNIFIL’s headquarters in Naqoura, directly hitting it and causing them to fall,” the UN peacekeeping mission said in a statement.

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

“We remind the IDF (Israeli army) and all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN premises at all times,” UNIFIL said. “UNIFIL peacekeepers are present in south Lebanon to support a return to stability under Security Council mandate.”

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

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 the UN Interim Force in Lebanon to possess weapons and military equipment in the area.

Israel has mounted massive airstrikes across Lebanon against what it claims Hezbollah targets since Sept. 23, killing at least 1,323 people, injuring over 3,700 others, and displacing more than 1.2 million people.

The aerial campaign was an escalation in yearlong cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Tel Aviv’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip that has killed over 42,000 people, mostly women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

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 on Oct. 1 a ground invasion into southern Lebanon.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala