Beirut: The United Nations ‘peacekeeping force in Lebanon,UNIFIL, said two of its personnel were injured when an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower att he force’s main headquarters in Ras al-Naqoura, hitting the tower and causing the peace-keepers to fall. There were no casualties in two other incidents, a UN source said.
The two Indonesian peace-keepers were in good condition after being treated for light in-juries, Indonesia Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said.
The safety of more than10,400 UN peacekeepers from about 50 countries in Lebanon was “increasingly in jeopardy”and operations had virtually halted since late last month, the forces’ chief ean Pierre Lacroix told the UN Security Council. That coincides with Israel’s escalation of its conflict withLebanon.
UNIFIL called attacks on peacekeepers “a grave violation
of international humanitarian law”.
The White House said the US was deeply concerned by the reports and was pressing Israel for details. In a statement, it also said that while Israel was con- ducting operations in the area to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure that could threaten Israelis, “it is critical that they not threaten UN peacekeepers’ safety and security”.
UNIFIL was created to over- see the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel’s 1978 invasion. The
UN expanded its mission following the 2006 Israeli- Hezbollah war, allowing peace- keepers to deploy along the
Israeli border. Canada, Italy, Jordan and the European Union condemned the attack. The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, sharply condemned the Israeli strikes as “an inadmissible act, for which there is no justification”. “Another line has been dangerously crossed in Lebanon,” he wrote on X.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her govern-ment had formally protested to Israeli authorities. Meloni said she received updates from the two Italian bases located in out- posts hit by Israeli gunfire and
praised the peacekeepers for their “valuable work”. Italy has about 1000 soldiers deployed as UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.

Jordan’s Foreign Ministry also denounced the strikes as a
“dangerous escalation” and “fla- grant violation of international
law”. Israel’s military said its troops operated in the Naqoura area, “next to a UNIFIL base”. “Accordingly, the IDF instructed the UN forces in the
area to remain in protected spa-ces, following which the forces opened fire in the area,” Israel said, adding it maintained routine contact with UNIFIL. In New York, Israel’s UN

Ambassador Danny Danon said Israel recommends UNIFIL relocate 5km north “to avoid danger as fighting intensifies”.
Hezbollah said it had fired a missile salvo at Israeli forces yesterday as they were trying to pull casualties out of Ras al- Naqoura and they were directly hit. The peacekeepers were determined to remain at theirposts despite Israeli attacks and orders by Israel’s military to leave, the force’s spokesperson
Andrea Tenenti said. At least 22 people were killed and 117 wounded in Israeli airstrikes that hit two areas in central Beirut, Lebanon’s Health
Ministry said.The strikes hit a densely packed residential neighbour-hood in Beirut.