Israeli troops fire at 3 UNIFIL positions in southern Lebanon

BEIRUT: Israeli troops opened fire at three positions held by United Nations (UN) peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Thursday, according to a UN source who was not immediately able to specify the type of fire.

The source said one of the locations fired at was United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon’s (UNIFIL) main base at Naqoura.

There was no official statement from UNIFIL or immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Hezbollah said earlier it had targeted an Israeli tank with guided missiles while it was advancing to the border area of Ras al-Naqoura, before attacking an Israeli force with a missile salvo while the force was trying to pull injured soldiers out of the area.

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UNIFIL had said on Sunday that it was “deeply concerned by recent activities” by the Israeli military near a peacekeeper position in southwestern Lebanon.

It did not provide details, but said the activities were dangerous and that it was “unacceptable to compromise the safety of UN peacekeepers carrying out their Security Council-mandated tasks”.

In a letter to Israel’s military dated October 3 and seen by Reuters, UNIFIL had objected to Israeli troops and military vehicles positioning themselves “in immediate proximity” to UN positions, “thereby endangering the safety and security of UNIFIL personnel and premises”.

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