Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 1st April. UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon on Sunday has launched an investigation into explosion in the Rmeish area that injured 4 unarmed peacekeepers on a foot patrol along the Blue Line that divides Israel from Lebanon and the disputed Golan Heights.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti in a statement issued said that the casualties of 3 military observers from the UN Truce Supervision Organization and a Lebanese language assistant have been evacuated for medical treatment.
According to the Lebanese state-run National News Agency reported that the UN peacekeepers were “subjected to an Israeli strike” carried out by drones.
Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee in a tweet said that the Israeli Defence Forces did not target any UNIFIL vehicles in the Rmeish area.
Mr. Tenenti stressed that the UNTSO observers, who are part of Observer Group Lebanon support UNIFIL in implementing the force’s mandate, which includes monitoring the cessation of hostilities, helping to ensure humanitarian access to civilian populations and assisting the Lebanese government in securing the country’s borders.
He underlined the responsibility of all actors in the conflict, under international law, to ensure protection for non-combatants, and called for a cessation of heavy exchanges of fire “before more people are unnecessarily hurt”.
Mr. Tenenti told reporters that after the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel, the situation in southern Lebanon has become increasingly tense, with shelling taking place deeper within Lebanon which “could potentially trigger a much wider conflict”.
UNIFIL expressed concern two days before the explosion over a “surge of violence” occurring across the Blue Line, which has caused a “high number of civilians and the destruction of homes and livelihoods”.
The force called for a ceasefire and urged all sides in the conflict to begin the process toward a sustainable political and diplomatic solution.
UN chief Antonio Guterres said in a statement issued on Saturday that the situation along the Blue Line continues to be of grave concern, referred to the daily exchanges of fire that have taken place between non-state armed groups based in Lebanon and the Israel Defense Forces since 8 October 2023.
The statement noted that the civilian fatalities reported, destruction of residential and agricultural areas, and displacement of tens of thousands of people on both sides of the Blue Line is unacceptable and threaten the security and stability of Lebanon, Israel, and the region, it concluded.
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