BEIRUT (AP) — The U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon says new explosions hit its headquarters on Friday morning, injuring two peacekeepers, a day after Israeli forces struck the same position.
The force, known as UNIFIL, said the explosions went off close to an observation tower at its headquarters in the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura. One of the injured peacekeepers was taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Tyre, while the other was treated at the site. It did not specify the cause of the blasts.
It also said an Israeli army bulldozer hit the perimeter of another of its positions in southern Lebanon while Israeli tanks moved nearby. Additional peacekeepers were sent to reinforce the position, it said.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The developments came a day after UNIFIL said an Israeli tank directly fired on an observation tower at its headquarters, injuring two Indonesian peacekeepers, and that soldiers attacked a bunker near where peacekeepers were sheltering, damaging vehicles and a communication system. The attacks drew international condemnations.
Statement:
This morning, UNIFIL’s Naqoura headquarters was affected by explosions for the second time in the last 48 hours.
— UNIFIL (@UNIFIL_) October 11, 2024
Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and Security Council resolution 1701 (2006).
— UNIFIL (@UNIFIL_) October 11, 2024
Israel is escalating its campaign against Hezbollah with waves of heavy airstrikes across Lebanon and a ground invasion at the border, after a year of exchanges of fire between the two rivals.
In central Beirut, rescue workers were searching through the rubble of a collapsed building Friday, hours after two Israeli strikes hit the Lebanese capital, killing at least 22 people and wounding dozens.
The air raid was the deadliest attack on central Beirut in over a year of war, hitting two residential buildings in neighborhoods that have swelled with displaced people fleeing Israeli bombardment elsewhere in the country.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television and Israeli media said the strikes aimed to kill Wafiq Safa, a top security official with the group. Al-Manar said Safa was not in either building at the time. The Israeli military had no comment on the reports.
Hezbollah has expanded its rocket fire to more populated areas deeper inside Israel. While disrupting life for Israelis, most of Hezbollah’s barrages have not caused casualties. But early Friday, an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon killed a man from Thailand working on a farm in northern Israel.
Rescue workers search for victims at the site of Thursday’s Israeli airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
via Associated Press
Local residents stand behind ruined vehicles as they watch rescue workers search through the rubble of a building hit by an Israeli airstrike on October 11, 2024 in Beirut, » …