On Thursday, two Indonesian members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon were hurt by Israeli tank fire while they were deployed in a surveillance structure at the agency’s headquarters in Ras an-Naqoura.
“This morning, two peacekeepers were injured after an IDF Merkava tank fired its weapon toward an observation tower at UNIFIL’s headquarters in Naqura, directly hitting it and causing them to fall,” the mission said in a statement posted on social media. "The injuries are fortunately, this time, not serious, but they remain in hospital."
A spokesperson for Israel’s military confirmed IDF units were active in the area targeting Hezbollah militants at the time of the occurrence, noting their forces had previously issued warnings for evacuation and sheltering to the organization.
The incident was criticized by officials from the U.N., the European Union, France, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and the United States.
UNIFIL was founded in 1978 in coordination with Jerusalem’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon. The peacekeeping contingent is tasked with helping the government in Beirut establish sovereignty in the region from Hezbollah and other terrorist groups.
