The United Nations peacekeepers are determined to remain at their posts in southern Lebanon, the force’s spokesperson said on Thursday, despite Israeli attacks in recent days that have wounded U.N. personnel and prompted international alarm and condemnations.
According to Andrea Tenenti.
Israeli attacks on the peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL with tank shells and small arms fire had left two wounded members in hospital. They knocked out some of their monitoring capabilities on Wednesday and Thursday.
“This is probably one of the most serious events or incidents that we’ve been witnessing in the last 12 months,” Tenenti said in an interview, referring to exchanges of fire between Israeli troops and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
On Thursday, the force’s 50 contributing countries agreed to keep deploying more than 10,400 peacekeepers between the Litani River in the north and the U.N.-recognized boundary between Lebanon and Israel known as the Blue Line in the south.
We are there because the (U.N.) Security Council has asked us to be there. So we are staying until the situation becomes impossible for us to operate,” Tenenti said.
UNIFIL said an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower at the force’s main headquarters in Naqoura on Thursday.
hitting the tower and causing two peacekeepers to fall out of it.
Israeli troops also fired at a nearby position, damaging vehicles, and a communications system, and on Wednesday “deliberately fired at and disabled” cameras monitoring the area, the peacekeeping force said in a statement.
