Three United Nations military observers and one Lebanese translator were wounded Saturday as they patrolled Lebanon’s southern border, the U.N.’s peacekeeping mission said, though it was not immediately clear who carried out the attack.
The military observers and translator—part of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization—were injured after an explosion near their location along the Blue Line, the southern border of Lebanon by Israel, the U.N. said.
All four injured were evacuated for medical treatment, according to the U.N., which said the attack is “unacceptable” as “all actors have a responsibility” to uphold international humanitarian law by protecting peacekeepers.
Anonymous security sources told Reuters the observers were injured in an Israeli strike near Rmeish, Lebanon.
Israeli Defense Forces denied involvement in the attack, indicating the Israeli military “did not strike” a U.N. vehicle near Rmeish on Saturday.
Milad Alam, the mayor of Rmeish, told Reuters he spoke with the translator and confirmed his condition was stable, while one of the observers—a Norwegian citizen—was lightly injured in the attack, according to Norway’s defense ministry.
Lebanon’s National News Agency said the other two wounded observers were Chilean and Australian.
It is unknown who carried out the attack. Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati called the U.N. and claimed Israel targeted the observers’ vehicles, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported. Major General Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz, the U.N.’s commander in Lebanon, told Mikati the organization is investigating the incident.
Joanna Wronecka, the U.N.’s special coordinator for Lebanon, said she was “saddened” to learn about the incident, which “serves as another reminder of the urgent need to return to a cessation of hostilities across the Blue Line” and recommit to a U.N. resolution for peace in the region.
Israel has traded fire with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah for months amid its conflict with Hamas. Israel has killed nearly 270 Hezbollah fighters in its shelling of Lebanon, according to NBC News, though the attacks have also killed about 50 civilians and struck U.N. forces and the Lebanese army. The U.N.’s observers are stationed along the demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel as a part of a peacekeeping mission. The U.N. said last month the Israeli military violated international law by firing on a group of journalists, killing a Reuters reporter. The IDF denied targeting the journalists. The organization also said in November one of its patrols was hit by Israeli gunfire in southern Lebanon. No peacekeepers were injured, though their vehicle was damaged, the U.N. said.
Three UN Observers And A Translator Wounded In South Lebanon, Peacekeeping Mission Says (Reuters)
