
The News
Israeli forces allegedly opened fire at United Nations peacekeeping forces at three different positions in Lebanon over the last 24 hours, with two peacekeepers hospitalized with minor injuries, the UN said.
Israeli soldiers “deliberately fired and disabled” UN security cameras and fired at a UN base in southern Lebanon, “hitting the entrance to the bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering, and damaging vehicles and a communications system,” the UN mission alleged in a statement.
The UN peacekeeping mission said it was “following up” with Israel about the attacks, noting that “any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law.” The Israeli Defense Forces have not commented on the allegations.
Israel had previously asked peacekeepers to pull back from bases close to the border with Lebanon — the UN mission has so far declined to do so.
Relationships between Israel and the UN have deteriorated sharply during the Gaza war, with the country’s ambassador to the alliance describing the UN as a “terror organization” earlier this year.
Know More
Israel took the unusual step of banning the UN secretary general from entering Israel earlier this month, citing his failure to “unequivocally condemn Iran’s criminal attack on Israel.”
Israeli officials have alleged that Hamas has used UN facilities in Gaza, and accused staff members of the UN agency for Palestinian humanitarian relief of participating in the Oct. 7 attack.
Nearly 300 humanitarian aid workers, more than two thirds of them UN staff, have been killed in Gaza, the UN has said.