UN peacekeepers in Lebanon have accused Israeli forces of firing at some of their positions, as Israel expands its attacks throughout Lebanon.
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said on Thursday that two of their Indonesian peacekeepers were injured when an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower at the force’s headquarters in Ras an-Naqoura, causing them to fall.
UNIFIL said in a statement that any attack on peacekeepers is a “grave violation of international humanitarian law”.
The peacekeeping organisation, which consists of about 10,000 peacekeepers from 50 countries and was established in 1978, said Israeli forces had “deliberately” fired at its positions along the border.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told Al Jazeera that the attack was a “very serious” development.
Tenenti explained that Israel had previously asked the peacekeepers to move from “certain positions” near the border, but “we decided to stay because it’s important for the UN flag to fly in [the] south of Lebanon.”
“If the situation becomes impossible for the mission to operate in the south of Lebanon … it will be up to the Security Council to decide how to move forward,” he said.
At the moment, we are staying, we are trying to do whatever we can to monitor [and] to provide assistance,” Tenenti added.
Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, said he recommended that the peacekeeping force move from their positions away from the Israel-Lebanon border and move northwards “while the situation along the Blue line remains volatile as a result of Hezbollah aggression”.
Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto called the attack on the UNIFIL bases “totally unacceptable”.
This was not a mistake and not an accident,” Crosetto told a news conference.
“It could constitute a war crime and represented a very serious violation of international military law,” he said.
He added that he had summoned the Israeli ambassador to demand an explanation of the attack.
