United States President Joe Biden has called on Israel to cease firing at United Nations peacekeepers during its ongoing conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, following two incidents in 48 hours that left peacekeepers injured.
Biden said he is “absolutely, positively” urging Israel to stop targeting UN forces.
The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged responsibility for an incident on Friday where two Sri Lankan soldiers serving in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon were injured.
The IDF stated that its soldiers, operating near the Unifil base in Naqoura, perceived a threat and opened fire, adding that the incident is under investigation “at the highest levels.”
This followed a similar incident on Thursday when two Indonesian peacekeepers were injured after an Israeli tank fired towards their observation post, causing them to fall from the tower.
The leaders of France, Italy, and Spain issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s actions as “unjustifiable” and calling for an immediate halt.
Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry also condemned the attack that injured its soldiers.
UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix expressed concern, stating that some of the attacks on UN positions appeared to be direct fire, though responsibility was not definitively assigned.
Lacroix pointed to damage to a UN observation tower and cameras, which he said looked like deliberate targeting.
As the Israeli military continues its ground invasion of southern Lebanon, cross-border fire between the IDF and Hezbollah has intensified.
The IDF reported detecting about 100 rockets fired into northern Israel from Lebanon within a half-hour on Friday, along with two unmanned aerial vehicles, one of which was intercepted.
Meanwhile, in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry reported that three people, including a two-year-old girl, were killed in an Israeli air raid on Sidon.
Two Lebanese soldiers were also killed when Israeli forces targeted an army post in Kafra, according to the Lebanese army.
In Beirut, emergency workers searched the wreckage of buildings hit by Israeli airstrikes on Thursday, which Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said killed 22 civilians and injured 117 more.
Mikati condemned the strikes, stating they came without warning. Israel has not commented on the incident.
The conflict escalated following Hezbollah’s increased rocket fire into northern Israel, which began on October 8, a day after Hamas’s deadly attack on southern Israel.
Israel has responded with intensified airstrikes and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, while calling for UN peacekeepers to withdraw northward to allow for more direct confrontation with Hezbollah.
However, the UN has refused to relocate its peacekeeping forces. The head of Unifil, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, stated that the 10,000-strong force from 50 countries, along with 800 civilian staff, would remain in position.
The peacekeepers have patrolled the area between the Litani River and the UN-recognized boundary between Lebanon and Israel, known as the “Blue Line,” since 1978.
As of now, more than 2,000 Lebanese have been killed, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced in the ongoing escalation, according to Lebanese authorities.
Hezbollah rocket fire has killed two Israeli civilians and a Thai national in the past week, Israeli officials reported.
