Jon Shelton
A United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) statement said Israeli forces "fired on UNIFIL peacekeepers from a Merkava tank from near a position Israel has established in Lebanese territory." The statement added that heavy machine gun rounds had landed about 5 meters (16.5 feet) from peacekeepers. No one was injured in the incident.Israel said it had identified "two suspects" in the El Hamames area of southern Lebanon and that "troops subsequently fired warning shots, and the suspects distanced themselves. No injuries were reported."
"After a review, it was determined that the suspects were UN soldiers who were conducting a patrol in the area and were classified as suspects due to poor weather conditions," the statement continued. "No deliberate fire was directed toward UNIFIL soldiers."UNIFIL forces were reportedly pinned down for 30 minutes before they could depart the area after IDF soldiers withdrew.UN calls shelling 'serious violation'UNIFIL officials called the incident "a serious violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701," which states that no armed forces should be operating in southern Lebanon except UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese military.
UN peacekeepers have been working in coordination with the Lebanese army in an effort to monitor a truce between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants signed last November.Clashes between Hezbollah and Israel began shortly after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led militant attack on Israel that sparked the latest war in Gaza.
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