A man visits the United Nations headquarters as Security Council delegates postponed voting for an extra day on a proposal to demand that Israel and Hamas allow aid access to the Gaza Strip via land, sea and air routes and establish a United Nations monitoring of the humanitarian assistance situation, at United Nations Headquarters in New York, United States, 20 December 2023.
Eduardo Muñoz | Reuters
Three United Nations military observers and a Lebanese interpreter were injured Saturday while patrolling Lebanon’s southern border after a bomb exploded near them, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said.
The military observers are part of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization, which supports the United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL. UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti told the Associated Press that the conditions of the four wounded were stable.
Tenenti said UNIFIL informed all warring parties of their patrols as usual and that the observers’ vehicle bore clear UN markings. The three military observers, from Chile, Australia and Norway, were unarmed, he said.
The explosion came as clashes between the Israeli army and Hezbollah militants have intensified in recent weeks. Both sides have clashed since war broke out between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, fueling concerns that near-daily clashes along the border could escalate into a full-scale war.
Local Lebanese media, citing security officials, said an Israeli drone attack targeted observers in the southern village of Wadi Katmoun, near the border town of Rmeich.
The Israeli military on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, said: “Contrary to reports, the IDF did not hit a @UNIFIL vehicle in the Rmeish area this morning.”
Tenenti said UNIFIL was “investigating the origin of the explosion” but it was difficult to immediately send investigators to the scene due to the ongoing firefight.
“Targeting peacekeepers is unacceptable,” Tenenti told The Associated Press. “We reiterate our appeal to all actors to stop the current heavy firefighting before more people are needlessly injured.”
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikat condemned the incident in a statement.
UNIFIL was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon following Israel’s 1978 invasion. The UN expanded its mission following the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, allowing peacekeepers to deploy along the Israeli border to help the Lebanese army extend its authority into the south of the country for the first time in decades.