2 More UN Peacekeepers Injured as Israel Fires at Hezbollah in the Area

UNIFIL vehicles drive along the main road leading to Lebanon's southern town of Naqura close to the border with Israel on Oct. 27, 2022. Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP via Getty Images

The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has warned of “very serious risks” for its mission after explosions wounded two peacekeepers near the Lebanon–Israel border, the second such incident in two days.

Israel and the Hezbollah terrorist group have been exchanging fire along the border since last October. The clash intensified over the past week as Israel pounded the Iran-backed group’s stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut in several rounds of targeted airstrikes, killing high-ranking commanders and destroying weapons stockpiles and rocket launchers.

The airstrikes were followed by a ground operation involving thousands of Israeli troops in the area just along the border, where they have been dismantling the launch pads that Hezbollah has used to fire rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank missiles into Israeli towns, as well as infrastructure the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said would allow for an invasion similar to the one by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

On the morning of Oct. 11, UNIFIL said on X that its headquarters in Naqura was “affected by explosions for the second time in the last 48 hours,” adding that two peacekeepers were injured in explosions near an observation tower and are receiving medical treatment.

In a separate incident, UNIFIL reported that an Israeli bulldozer knocked over barriers at a U.N. post in Labbouneh near the Blue Line—a U.N.-mapped line that separates Lebanon from Israel and the Golan Heights—and that Israeli tanks also advanced toward that position.

Earlier on Oct. 10, UNIFIL said an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower at the mission’s Naqura headquarters, causing two peacekeepers to fall and sustain injuries.

“These incidents put again U.N. peacekeepers, who are serving in south Lebanon at the request of the Security Council under resolution 1701, at very serious risks,” it said.

The resolution, passed by the U.N. Security Council in 2006, calls for a permanent cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah and prohibits all parties from crossing the Blue Line.

“Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law,” the statement reads.

In response, the IDF acknowledged conducting operations near the U.N. peacekeepers’ base but said that Hezbollah was operating in close proximity to those positions.

“Hezbollah operates from within and near civilian areas in southern Lebanon, including areas near [UNIFIL] posts,” the IDF said, noting that it maintains “routine communication with UNIFIL.”

Speaking at the U.N. Security Council on Oct. 10, Israeli envoy Danny Danon said his country has no desire for a military occupation of southern Lebanon. However, in order to create a situation in which Israel does not need to do that, he said, the United Nations must “ensure the right mechanisms are in place for the Lebanese army and UNIFIL to meet their obligations.”

“We all know the ending of this conflict: Hezbollah will be pushed back north of the Litani River,” Danon said. “But who will enforce that situation? ... Who will oversee its maintenance?

“The answer lies in the hands of the Lebanese army and UNIFIL. They must step up. Not only must they fulfill their current duties under resolution 1701, but we must reform those obligations.”