UN peacekeepers in Lebanon accuse Israeli forces of ‘deliberate’ attack on watchtower

UN peacekeepers in Lebanon said Israeli forces fired at one of their stations in a "deliberate" attack that damaged a watchtower.

The alleged firing on Wednesday comes amid a standoff between the UN mission and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has accused them of “providing a human shield” to the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as Unifil, said in a post on X its peacekeepers observed an Israeli tank firing at their watchtower near southern Lebanon's Kfar Kela. Two cameras were destroyed, and the tower was damaged, it said.

"Yet again we see direct and apparently deliberate fire on a Unifil position," the mission said in a statement.

Israel has previously called on the UN to move members of the Unifil peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon at least three miles north during its ground invasion after five peacekeepers sustained injuries during an Israeli attack on Hezbollah.

Unifil said its troops have come under Israeli attack several times, though Israel has disputed accounts of those incidents.

The mission, set up in 1978 to monitor Israel’s withdrawal from the south of Lebanon, said it would stay on the southern border despite Israel's aggression.

"We remind the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] and all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN premises at all times," the mission said.

Unifil is made up of 10,541 peacekeepers from 50 countries. The UK sends one peacekeeper to Unifil compared to around 1,000 from Italy, more than 600 from France and some 300 from Ireland.

The peacekeepers now operate in a 410 square mile area between the Blue Line and the Litani River in southern Lebanon. The Blue Line is a UN-mapped line separating Lebanon from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israeli forces withdrew to the Blue Line when they left south Lebanon in 2000. Any unauthorized crossing of the Blue Line by land or by air from any side constitutes a violation of Security Council resolution 1701, according to Reuters.

Over the weekend, the mission said Israeli troops with two tanks “forcibly entered” a Unifil position near the village of Ramyah, crossing the Blue Line. The mission accused the troops of firing smoke rounds near the peacekeepers which affected at least 15 personnel.

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin on Wednesday spoke to his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant and "reinforced the importance of taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety and security of Unifil forces and the Lebanese Armed Forces", according to the Defence Department.

Similarly, 16 EU nations called for revised rules of engagement in Lebanon, adding that they need to be more effective in light of recent attacks.

“The message we want to send to Israel is that if you stop your army, the UN can also change its approach in that part of Lebanon, so that we can peacefully achieve what you’re now trying to do by attacking Hezbollah’s bases militarily,” Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto said.

After accusing Unifil of failing in its mission to keep armed fighters out of the border area, Israel adopted a more conciliatory tone earlier on Wednesday.

“The State of Israel places great importance on the activities of Unifil and has no intention of harming the organization or its personnel,” foreign minister Israel Katz said.

Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, in the first attack on the city since 10 October, when two strikes near the city centre killed 22 people and brought down entire buildings in a densely populated neighbourhood.

Israeli operations in Lebanon have killed at least 2,350 people over the last year and displaced more than 1.2 million people, according to the country’s health ministry.