Lebanon ground offensive

Report: Israel shot at UN soldiers

Soldiers of the UN mission UNIFIL during a briefing with a member of the Lebanese army

(Bild: APA/AFP)

Since the beginning of Israel's ground offensive in Lebanon, there have been repeated reports of exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia near positions of the UN blue helmet mission UNIFIL. UNIFIL has also been called on several times to withdraw from affected areas. Now the international soldiers have come under Israeli fire. There are casualties.

The attack took place near Naqoura in the southern border area, the Lebanese state agency NNA reported on Thursday. A UN spokesperson said that two UNIFIL members had been injured, but not seriously. The injured are not Austrians, as army spokesman Michael Bauer explained. A UN insider said that Israeli forces had fired a tank shell at a watchtower of the UNIFIL headquarters. 

Israeli ground troops in the south of Lebanon

(Bild: APA/AFP/Israel Army)

Another Israeli attack also hit the entrance to a bunker where UN soldiers had sought shelter. UN vehicles and a communication system were also damaged.

According to UN sources, there had already been two other incidents between UNIFIL and Israel on Wednesday and Thursday. There were no casualties.

Dangerous UNIFIL mission

• Austria has been part of UNIFIL since 2011. The mission - one of the oldest active ones within the UN - comprises a total of around 10,000 soldiers and 800 civilians from more than 40 countries.
• Around 170 soldiers from Austria are responsible for planning and carrying out transports as part of UNIFIL.
• Since the beginning of the mission, more than 300 peacekeepers have lost their lives. In 2006, four UN soldiers, including Austrian Major Hans Peter Lang, were killed during a similar Israeli offensive when an observation post in southern Lebanon was shelled.

Hezbollah attacked Israeli unit with guided missiles
Hezbollah had previously stated that it had fired guided missiles at an Israeli tank as it advanced towards the border area of Ras al-Naqoura and then attacked an Israeli unit with missiles that was trying to remove injured soldiers from the area. Naqoura is the first major town near the demarcation line between Israel and Lebanon. The UNIFIL mission (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) also has its headquarters here. 

A few days ago, the UN mission had already expressed its "deep concern" about activities by the Israeli military "in the immediate vicinity" of one of its posts. It was referring to an attack near Maroun al-Ras, which is located in the border area further east of Ras al-Naqoura. 

Deaths in Israeli air strikes
There were further fatalities on Thursday in the ongoing Israeli attacks in Lebanon. In southern Lebanon, a civil defense center in the village of Derdghaiya about ten kilometers from the border was hit during the night, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Five rescue workers were killed in the attack. The Israeli military did not comment on the incident.

However, it announced that the armed forces had flown air strikes on Hezbollah weapons depots in the southern suburbs of Beirut and in southern Lebanon during the night and on Wednesday. Two commanders of the militia were killed. In addition, a twelfth Israeli soldier was killed in the fighting on the ground, which has been going on since the end of September.