Three UN monitors and a translator were injured on Saturday when a shell exploded near them while they were on patrol in southern Lebanon, the UN peacekeeping mission said, adding that it was still investigating the origin of the ‘explosion.
The United Nations mission, known as Uinifil, as well as unarmed technical observers, known as Untso, are positioned in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the dividing line between Lebanon and Israel, known as the Blue Line.
Since October, in parallel with the war in Gaza, the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has been engaged in a firefight with the Israeli army across the Blue Line.
Unifil said in a statement on Saturday that the attack on the peacekeepers was “unacceptable” and that the injured personnel were being taken for treatment.
Two security sources had previously told Reuters that observers had been injured in an Israeli attack on the outskirts of the border town of Rmeish.
The Israeli army denied involvement in the incident. “Contrary to reports, the IDF did not attack a Unifil vehicle in the Romanian area this morning,” the military said in a statement.
Lebanon’s interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati spoke with Unifil commander Aroldo Lozaro, condemning the “attack” in southern Lebanon, according to a statement from Mikati’s office.
Romanian Mayor Milad Alam told Reuters he had spoken to the Lebanese translator and confirmed his condition was stable.
“From Rmeish we heard an explosion and then we saw a Unifil car passing by. Foreign observers were taken to hospitals in Tire and Beirut with a helicopter and a car,” Milad said, without giving details on his condition .
One of the observers was a Norwegian citizen, who was slightly injured, the Nordic country’s Ministry of Defense told Reuters. Lebanon’s national news agency said the other two injured observers were a Chilean and an Australian.
The Israeli bombing of Lebanon killed around 270 Hezbollah fighters, but also around 50 civilians – including children, doctors and journalists – and hit both UNIFIL and the Lebanese army.
Source: Terra
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