Two UN peacekeepers injured after Israeli tank fire hits UNIFIL position in southern Lebanon

Two UN peacekeepers injured after Israeli tank fire hits UNIFIL position in southern Lebanon

Two peacekeepers were injured when an Israeli Merkava tank fired toward a UNIFIL observation tower in southern Lebanon, the UN force said, in one of the most serious recent incidents involving peacekeepers near the Israeli-Lebanese frontier. UN sources also said Israeli troops fired on two other UN positions in the same area.

UNIFIL said the tank shell directly hit the tower at its headquarters in Naqoura, causing the two personnel to fall and suffer injuries that were not serious. It said the pair remained in hospital. The force also said Israeli soldiers fired on UN position 1-31 in Labbouneh, striking the entrance to a bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering and damaging vehicles and a communications system. In addition, it said an Israeli drone was observed flying inside the UN position up to the bunker entrance.

The report is notable not just because peacekeepers were injured, but because the positions struck were part of a UN mission meant to monitor hostilities and support humanitarian access. UNIFIL was created in 1978 and has long operated along the Blue Line, the demarcation line where Israel withdrew when it left south Lebanon in 2000. The latest strikes raise the risk of accidental or deliberate escalation around a force that is supposed to remain outside the fighting.

Irish officials, whose troops are serving with UNIFIL, said their personnel were safe and well. Taoiseach Simon Harris said he was deeply concerned by the reports and said firing on peacekeepers can never be tolerated or acceptable. Tánaiste Micheál Martin also told the Irish parliament that the Defence Forces would issue a statement confirming Irish personnel were accounted for and well.

The broader context is a sharp rise in fighting along the border. UNIFIL said the recent escalation is causing widespread destruction of towns and villages in south Lebanon while rockets continue to be launched towards Israel, including civilian areas. It also said there have been incursions from Israel into Lebanon in Naqoura and other areas and that Israeli soldiers have clashed on the ground with Hezbollah elements.

That makes the Naqoura incident part of a wider and more dangerous pattern. The UN force is not reporting a single stray round but repeated contact with positions that are supposed to be protected under the rules of international peacekeeping. Even without serious injuries in this case, the episode shows how quickly the border war can reach into UN facilities and place peacekeepers in direct danger.

The Israeli military had not, in the BBC report, issued a detailed public explanation for the specific tank fire on the UN positions. For now, UNIFIL’s account is the clearest public record, and it suggests the force is facing direct pressure as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah intensifies.

Citations

• [827] BBC reporting identified the two injured peacekeepers in Naqoura, the three UN positions struck, the damage described by UNIFIL, and the Irish officials’ response.