The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said Sunday that one of its members was wounded by an Israeli grenade dropped near a UN position in the country鈥檚 south, the third incident of its kind in just over a month.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon has been working with the Lebanese army to support a November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and militant group Hezbollah that culminated in two months of open war.
鈥楯ust before noon yesterday, an Israeli drone dropped a grenade that exploded near a UNIFIL position鈥� in Kfar Kila, the force said in a statement published on Sunday.
鈥極ne peacekeeper was lightly injured and received medical assistance.鈥�
Earlier this month, UNIFIL said Israeli drones had dropped multiple grenades near peacekeepers providing security for workers clearing rubble left over from the war.
And in a similar episode in September, UNIFIL said Israeli drones had dropped four grenades near peacekeepers, with Israel insisting at the time that there had been 鈥榥o intentional fire鈥� directed at the force.
UNIFIL said Saturday鈥檚 incident represented 鈥榓nother serious violation of resolution 1701 and concerning disregard for the safety of peacekeepers鈥�.
UN Security Council Resolution 1701 ended a 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and formed the basis of the November ceasefire.
鈥榃e again call on the (Israeli army) to cease attacks on or near peacekeepers, who are working to rebuild the stability that both Israel and Lebanon have committed to restore,鈥� the UN peacekeeping force said.
UNIFIL has been deployed since 1978 to separate Israel and Lebanon, and numbers some 10,000 personnel from almost 50 countries.
In August, the Security Council voted to end the force鈥檚 mission in 2027.
Under the US-brokered ceasefire, Hezbollah and Israel were both required to withdraw from south Lebanon, while UNIFIL deployed there alongside the Lebanese military, in part to help dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure.
Israel, however, has kept up regular strikes in Lebanon on what it says are Hezbollah targets, and has maintained its troops in five locations it deems strategic.
On Saturday, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun condemned an overnight Israeli strike that reportedly killed one person and destroyed hundreds of bulldozers and excavators in Al-Msayleh.
Israel鈥檚 military said at the time that it had carried out strikes in an area 鈥榳here engineering machinery used to re-establish terrorist infrastructure鈥� was located.
On Sunday, Lebanese premier Nawaf Salam called on his foreign minister 鈥榯o urgently file a complaint to the Security Council regarding the recent Israeli aggression that targeted civilian and commercial facilities in the Al-Msayleh area鈥�, calling it a violation of Resolution 1701 and last year鈥檚 ceasefire.
