Israeli forces opened fire on a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) base in southern Lebanon on Friday, October 11, wounding two people. The previous day, the Israeli army had already fired three times at UN peacekeeping bases, also wounding two peacekeepers. European contributors to the UN force, including France, condemned the incident as "an attack on the security of UNIFIL" and "a serious violation of international law."
There is "no possible doubt" that the Israeli army's fire on the UNIFIL was deliberate, a diplomatic source said. Since Israel launched ground operations in southern Lebanon to destroy the "military infrastructure" of the Lebanese Shiite party Hezbollah on September 30, tensions have been mounting between the Israeli army and the UN force.
On Thursday, October 10, UNIFIL reported several incidents against its troops. "Two peacekeepers were injured after an IDF 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 force announced in a statement.
According to a UNIFIL spokesperson, they are "still in hospital" but their "injuries are not serious." The Israeli army said that it had fired near the UNIFIL HQ in southern Lebanon, after asking the UN soldiers to remain "in protected areas."
"IDF soldiers also fired on UN position (UNP) 1-31 in Labbouneh, hitting the entrance to the bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering, and damaging vehicles and a communications system," added UNIFIL.
On Wednesday, "IDF soldiers deliberately fired at and disabled the position’s perimeter-monitoring cameras. They also deliberately fired on UNP 1-32A in Ras Naqoura, where regular Tripartite meetings were held before the conflict began," according to the same statement.
The UN force has 10,000 men of 40 different nationalities and is deployed in southern Lebanon. It had refused Israel's order on September 30 to evacuate 29 of its positions in the border region when it launched its ground offensive. "The Israeli Foreign Ministry asked UNIFIL to reconsider its decision. It does not understand why it is taking this risk", the diplomatic source continued. On Sunday, UNIFIL had already criticized Israeli army operations near an Irish contingent base, calling them "extremely dangerous."
The UN force has called on the Israeli army and Hezbollah to apply UN Security Council Resolution 1701. The resolution, which put an end to the 2006 war between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite party, says that only UN peacekeeping forces and the Lebanese army can be deployed in southern Lebanon. "Our priority now is to go in and repair the damage, as well as look after the soldiers who are there. [The Israelis] tell us it's a combat zone but it's our next battle," added the diplomatic source.
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