A UNIFIL helicopter reportedly arrived at the site of the attack and transported the wounded peacekeepers.
An Israeli aircraft targeted on Saturday morning a military vehicle belonging to the United Nations Interim Force near the southern Lebanese village of Rmeish, leaving at least four injured, Lebanese media reported on Saturday.
According to Al-Manar TV channel, the vehicle carried three UN observers, from Australia, Norway and Chile, and a Lebanese translator.
A UNIFIL helicopter reportedly arrived at the site of the attack and transported the wounded peacekeepers.
Reuters news agency reported that two security sources confirmed that “the observers were wounded in an Israeli strike”.
The Israeli military denied that it carried out a raid on a UN vehicle.
The #UN mission in South #Lebanon stated that the targeting of peacekeepers is "unacceptable" after observers were wounded in an Israeli strike, which "Israel", of course, denied. https://t.co/INtLWbfGjp
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) March 30, 2024
UNIFIL confirmed in a statement that three international observers and one translator were injured as a result of the attack, saying that it is investigating the origin of the blast.
This is not the first time a UN patrol is targeted by Israeli fire. On November 25, UNIFIL accused Israel of targeting its observers in the vicinity of Aytaroun, in southern Lebanon. At the time, UNIFIL condemned the incident, calling it “deeply troubling.”
UNIFIL is a UN peacekeeping mission established in 1978 by the United Nations Security Council to confirm Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon following Israel’s invasion earlier that year.
Tensions Running High
Tensions are running high along the border between Israel and Lebanon.
On Wednesday, seven people were killed in an Israeli raid that targeted a medical center in the town of Al-Habbariyah, in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli Air Force targeted an ambulance center belonging to the Islamic Emergency and Relief Authority, completely destroying it, while paramedics were inside it.
‘In Response to Zionist Massacre’ – Israel Attacks Ambulance Center in Lebanon, Hezbollah Responds
In response to Israel’s massacre, the Lebanese Resistance Movement Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at the Kiryat Shmona settlement, killing one Jewish settler.
On Saturday morning, Hezbollah announced that it targeted the Israeli Ramim military site with a Burkan missile.
Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, on October 7, the Lebanese movement Hezbollah has engaged directly, but relatively in a limited way in the war against the Israeli occupation.
According to Hezbollah sources, the movement has carried out 169 military operations in the first 120 days of war, killing over 2,000 Israeli soldiers.
HEZBOLLAH: We targeted the Ramim barracks with a Burkan missile.
FOLLOW OUR LIVE BLOG:https://t.co/pbx8IkiFNT pic.twitter.com/BldxfNkO2i
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) March 30, 2024
Israel has occupied parts of Lebanon for decades and has only left the country in 2000, following stiff Lebanese resistance under Hezbollah’s leadership.
It attempted to re-occupy Lebanon in 2006 but failed in what Lebanon considers a major victory against Israel.
Israel, however, continues to occupy parts of Lebanon, namely the Sheeba Farms region.
Hezbollah has vowed to recover every inch of Lebanon that has been occupied by Israel contrary to international law.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
