JUST IN: ROCKET FIRE INJURES FOUR UN PEACEKEEPERS IN LEBANON
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Four UN peacekeepers from Italy were wounded by rocket fire in Lebanon Friday, Rome and the UN force said, adding that it likely came from Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed “deep indignation and concern” over “new attacks suffered by the Italian headquarters of UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) in southern Lebanon”.
“These attacks are unacceptable,” she said in a statement, calling on “the parties on the ground to guarantee, at all times, the safety of UNIFIL soldiers and to collaborate to quickly identify those responsible”.
Meloni did not attribute blame but Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani told reporters it was likely Hezbollah.
“There were believed to be two missiles, from what it appears, they are believed to have been launched by Hezbollah,” he said in Turin.
A foreign ministry spokesman said Italy would await an investigation by UNIFIL.
The force said “two 122-mm rockets struck the Sector West Headquarters” in Shamaa, around five kilometres (three miles) from the Israeli border.
The village has been a battleground between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters for around a week.
The rockets were “likely launched by Hezbollah or affiliated groups”, the force said, adding that it was “the third attack on this UNIFIL base in Shamaa in a week”.
The four peacekeepers, whose wounds were not life-threatening, were “receiving treatment at the base hospital”, it said.
“UNIFIL strongly urges combating parties to avoid fighting next to its positions,” it added.
A statement from Hezbollah said its fighters targeted “a gathering of Israeli enemy troops in Shamaa with a rocket salvo”.
Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said two 122 mm rockets appeared to have hit a bunker on the base.
The peacekeepers were wounded by shards of glass when windows shattered, Crosetto said, adding that the rocket fire was “intolerable”.
He said he had contacted his Lebanese counterpart “reiterating that the Italian contingent of UNIFIL remains in southern Lebanon to offer a window of opportunity for peace and cannot become hostage to attacks by militias”.
“I will try to speak with the new Israeli minister of defence (Israel Katz), which has been impossible since he took office, to ask him to avoid using UNIFIL bases as a shield,” he said.
“Even more intolerable is the presence of terrorists in south Lebanon who are endangering the safety of the blue helmets and the civilian population.”
Tasked with monitoring the Blue Line separating Lebanon from Israel, UNIFIL’s 10,000 peacekeepers have come under repeated fire during the current Israel-Hezbollah war.
AFP
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