(Beirut) Three UN observers and their Lebanese translator were injured on Saturday in an explosion in southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel, the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) said.
UNIFIL peacekeepers patrol the “Blue Line”, the demarcation line established by the UN between Lebanon and Israel. They are supported by observers from the UN truce monitoring body (UNTSO), established in 1948 after the first Arab-Israeli war.
The incident involving UNTSO observers took place against a backdrop of an increase in deadly violence on the Israeli-Lebanese border between the Israeli army and the Lebanese armed movement Hezbollah.
“Three UNTSO observers and a Lebanese translator, on foot patrol along the Blue Line, were injured by an explosion nearby,” UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said in a statement.
Among the injured observers were a Norwegian man and a Chilean woman who were hospitalized, according to authorities in both countries. The third is an Australian, according to UNIFIL.
The injured were “evacuated for treatment” and UNIFIL “is investigating the origin of the explosion,” added Mr. Tenenti, calling on the protagonists “to stop the intensive exchange of fire before more people are killed.” affected”.
UN chief Antonio Guterres expressed “grave concern” about the frequent exchanges of fire along the Blue Line, according to a statement.
UNTSO, which has unarmed observers and is deployed in southern Lebanon like UNIFIL, considered “unacceptable to target peacekeeping forces”, also stressing “investigate the origin of the explosion “.
In Beirut, the Lebanese National News Agency (ANI) claimed that “an enemy drone”, referring to Israel, had bombed the Rmeich region, where observers were injured.
In Israel, the army claimed not to have carried out strikes in this region.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned in a statement a “dangerous incident” and the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced a “violation of international law”.
Daily violence pits the Israeli army against Hezbollah at the border, which claims to support Hamas in its war against Israel in Gaza, triggered on October 7 by an attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement.
At least 347 people have been killed in Lebanon, mainly Hezbollah fighters but also at least 68 civilians – in exchanges of fire at the border for almost six months, according to an AFP count.
In northern Israel, bordering southern Lebanon, ten soldiers and eight civilians were killed according to the army.