A person visits the United Nations headquarters as Security Council delegates postponed for one additional day a vote on a proposal to require Israel and Hamas to permit aid access to the Gaza Strip by land, sea and air and establish a UN monitoring of humanitarian aid, at the UN headquarters in New York, USA, December 20, 2023
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters
Three United Nations military observers and a Lebanese translator were injured Saturday while patrolling Lebanon’s southern border after a missile exploded near them, the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said.
The military observers are a part of the United Nations Ceasefire Monitoring Organization, which supports the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL. UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that the 4 injured were in stable condition.
Tenenti said UNIFIL, as usual, informed all warring parties about its patrols and the observers’ vehicle had clear UN markings. He added that the three military observers from Chile, Australia and Norway were unarmed.
The explosion occurred in recent weeks after intensifying clashes between the Israeli military and Hezbollah fighters. The two sides have been exchanging fire since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, raising fears that near-daily border clashes could escalate into a full-scale war.
Local Lebanese media, quoting security officials, reported that an Israeli drone strike targeted observers in the southern village of Wadi Katmoun near the border town of Rmeich.
The Israeli military on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, said: “Contrary to reports, the Israeli Defense Forces did not strike a @UNIFIL vehicle in the Rmeish area this morning.”
Tenenti said UNIFIL was “investigating the causes of the explosion,” but it surely was difficult to instantly send investigators to the ground due to the constant exchange of fireside.
“Targeting peacekeepers is unacceptable,” Tenenti told The Associated Press. “We reiterate our appeal to all parties to cease the current heavy exchanges of fire before more people are unnecessarily harmed.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikat condemned the incident in a statement.
UNIFIL was established to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon following the 1978 Israeli invasion. The U.N. expanded its mission after the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, allowing peacekeepers to deploy along the Israeli border to assist the Lebanese army expand its power into the south of the country for the first time in many years.
