UPDATE - Ireland 'deeply concerned' over Israeli shelling of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon

UPDATES WITH REACTION BY FOREIGN MINISTER; REVISES DECK, LEDE

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Ireland's taoiseach (prime minister) on Thursday said he was "deeply concerned" by reports that the Israeli army fired artillery on positions of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, as well as their headquarters in the southern city of Naqoura.

"Firing on peacekeepers can never be tolerated or acceptable. The Blue Helmet worn by UN peacekeepers must be sacrosanct," Simon Harris said in a statement.

Earlier the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said that its headquarters in Naqoura and other sites have been repeatedly shelled by Israeli forces, leaving two peacekeepers injured.

Expressing his solidarity with military personnel who suffered light injuries in the attacks, he said Irish troops serving with UNIFIL continue to carry out their mission "with distinction, despite the extremely difficult circumstances."

"They are serving on behalf of the international community in some of the most challenging places in the world. They are not combatants, and their role must be respected at all times," Harris said.

He reiterated his call to all sides of the conflict in Lebanon for an immediate cease-fire, which could facilitate full implementation of UN Resolution 1701 and provide security to civilian populations in Israel and Lebanon.

Micheal Martin, Ireland’s tanaiste (foreign minister), "strongly" condemned the Israeli shelling, urging full accountability.

"It’s reprehensible & unacceptable to injure peacekeepers & to put them in harm's way Israel has an obligation to protect peacekeepers & its actions are in breach of international humanitarian law," he wrote on X.

He stressed that there needs to be "full accountability" for these actions.

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 people.

The aerial campaign was an escalation in a year of 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 on Oct. 1 by launching a ground invasion into southern Lebanon.