FOUR UN PEACEKEEPERS were injured when a rocket hit a UNIFIL base in Lebanon today, according to a spokesperson from the force.
The rocket was most likely launched by non-state actors, a UNIFIL statement said, adding that the four injured soldiers are from Ghana. It was one of three attacks on UNIFIL bases today.
“The peacekeepers sustained injuries and three of them have been transferred to a hospital in Tyre for treatment,” UNIFIL said.
The Irish Defence Forces confirmed that all Irish personnel are safe and accounted for.
“In another incident, UNIFIL Sector West Headquarters in Shama was impacted by five rockets, which struck the maintenance workshop,” UNIFIL said.
“Although it caused heavy damage to the workshop, no peacekeeper was injured. This was the second time this UNIFIL base was impacted by the ongoing clashes in the area in less than a week.”
The third incident involved a combatant firing on a UNIFIL patrol northeast of the village of Khirbat Silim. No injuries were reported.
UNIFIL said it has launched investigations into each of the three incidents while also informing the Lebanese Armed Forces.
UNIFIL reminded all actors “to respect the inviolability of United Nations peacekeepers and premises”.
“The pattern of regular attacks – direct or indirect – against peacekeepers must end immediately.
“Any attack against the peacekeepers is a flagrant violation of international laws and resolution 1701, which forms the basis of UNIFIL’s current mandate.”
Despite the attacks and other challenges, UNIFIL said its peacekeepers remain in all their positions in Lebanon “and will continue to impartially monitor and report on violations of resolution 1701”.
The Irish Defence Forces said that “all necessary force protection measures continue to be observed”.
“We extend our thoughts to our UN colleagues in these areas as they continue to operate in this challenging environment.”
UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti condemned what he said were “numerous hits” on the force’s personnel and bases in more than a year of hostilities, which he said had wounded “more than 20 peacekeepers”.
Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah have been engaged in outright war since Israeli forces began heavily bombarding Lebanon on 23 September, before beginning an invasion of the country in early October this year.
Hezbollah, in support of Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, had already begun launching rockets across the border into Israel immediately after the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October last year.
Since then more than 3,510 people in Lebanon have been killed, authorities have said.
Most of the deaths have been recorded since late September, among them more than 200 children, according to the United Nations.
With reporting from AFP
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