Four UN military observers were hurt on Saturday, according to the UN, when a shell detonated close to them in southern Lebanon, a region where Israel and the Hezbollah movement frequently exchange cross-border gunfire.
The official National News Agency of Lebanon blamed Israel for the shelling, however the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) could not specify the source.
“This morning four UNTSO military observers on a foot patrol along the Blue Line (demarcating the border with Israel) were injured when a shell exploded near their location,” UNTSO said.
“The targeting of peacekeepers is unacceptable,” it said in a statement, adding that the peacekeepers were taken to hospital for treatment and an investigation launched into the origin of the explosion.
“All actors have a responsibility under international humanitarian law to avoid targeting non-combatants, including peacekeepers, journalists, medical personnel, and civilians.
“We repeat our call for all actors to cease the current heavy exchanges of fire before more people are unnecessarily hurt,” UNTSO said.
Since October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel, Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have engaged in almost daily cross-border gunfire. This is because Hamas is the militant group that is fighting Israel in the Gaza Strip.
With a formidable arsenal of rockets and missiles, Hezbollah claims its strikes against Israel are in favor of Hamas.
“Enemy aviation” raided the Rmeish area in southern Lebanon, causing injuries to the UNTSO observers, according to the state-run National News Agency of Lebanon.
According to an AFP calculation, since October, cross-border fire has killed at least 347 people in Lebanon, largely Hezbollah members but also at least 68 civilians.
Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes due to the fighting in northern Israel and southern Lebanon, where the military reports that eight civilians and ten troops have died.
Hezbollah and Israel, who last fought in 2006, are suspected of going to war, as there has been a spike in lethal encounters between the two groups in recent days.
UNTSO was established in 1948 as a peacekeeping mission to oversee ceasefires and armistice agreements between Israel and Arab nations like Lebanon, subsequent to the establishment of Israel.
Additionally, it supports several UN peacekeeping missions in the area, such as UNIFIL, which is in charge of observing the Israeli-Lebanese border.
