UN peacekeepers came under fire for the second day in a row in Lebanon on Friday, amid intensifying Israeli bombing of Beirut and southern areas, along with continuing Hezbollah rocket strikes targeting Israel.
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| UNIFIL peacekeeper in Lebanon. Photo: UNIFIL/Pasqual Gorriz via news.un.org |
In an appeal for an end to the “killing, destruction [and] bellicose posturing” by those in power, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said that the situation for civilians on the ground “in Lebanon, Gaza, Israel and Syria is getting worse by the day”.
On Friday, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported that two peacekeepers had been injured “after two explosions” close to an observation tower. On Thursday, a pair of the Mission’s troops were injured “after an IDF Merkava tank fired its weapon toward an observation tower at UNIFIL’s headquarters in Naqoura, directly hitting it and causing them to fall”, it said.
“These incidents put again UN peacekeepers, who are serving in south Lebanon at the request of the Security Council under resolution 1701 (2006), at very serious risk.” news.un.org
