Israel conducting review after UN peacekeepers wounded in Lebanon

JERUSALEM: Israel said its forces fired at a threat near a UN peacekeeping position on Friday (Oct 11) in Lebanon, acknowledging that a “hit” was responsible for wounding two Blue Helmets in an incident that has sparked a fierce diplomatic backlash.
The two Sri Lankan Blue Helmets were hurt at the main base of the UNIFIL force in Naqura, southern Lebanon, the day after two Indonesian soldiers were hurt when, according to the mission, tank fire hit a watchtower.
As Israel faced a chorus of condemnation from United Nations chief Antonio Guterres and Western allies, its army pledged to carry out a “thorough review” while releasing its preliminary findings.
Israeli soldiers had responded with fire to “an immediate threat” around 50 metres (yards) from the UNIFIL post, the military said. 
“An initial examination indicates that during the incident, a hit was identified on a UNIFIL post… resulting in the injury of two UNIFIL personnel,” the statement added.
Sean Clancy, the Irish Defence Forces’ chief of staff, said he did not believe Israel’s explanation.
“So from a military perspective, this is not an accidental act,” said Clancy, whose country has troops in the UNIFIL mission. 
The peacekeepers have found themselves on the frontline of the Israel-Hezbollah war that has killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has verified 690,000 internally displaced people in Lebanon, and they have “huge needs,” Othman Belbeisi, IOM’s regional director, told AFP.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the firing as “intolerable” and “a violation of international humanitarian law,” while the British government said it was “appalled” by reports of the injuries.
US President Joe Biden said Friday he was “absolutely” asking Israel to stop firing at UN peacekeepers, while the French, Spanish and Italian leaders issued a joint statement expressing “outrage.” 
French President Emmanuel Macron renewed his call for an end to exports of weapons used by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon, while saying the UN peacekeepers had been “deliberately targeted.” 
The incidents came more than two weeks into Israel’s war with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has seen Israeli warplanes conduct extensive strikes since September 23 on the militants’ strongholds, and ground troops deployed across the border.
Also on Friday, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said his government would ask the UN Security Council to issue a resolution calling for a “full and immediate ceasefire”.
Calling for the Lebanese army and peacekeepers to be the only armed forces deployed in the south of the country, he said that “Hezbollah is in agreement on this issue” – though the group has yet to comment on his speech.
Iran-backed Hezbollah is heavily armed and controls large swathes of Lebanon, and successive Lebanese governments have failed to subdue it.
Hezbollah has fought Israel numerous times in recent decades, while the weak Lebanese military has been mostly unable to deploy in many areas under the militants’ control.
Lebanon’s army said an Israeli strike on one of its positions in south Lebanon killed two of its soldiers on Friday.
The worst-affected areas in the war are home to majority Shiite Muslims, where Hezbollah built its support base by providing protection and services in a state long wracked by sectarianism and corruption. 
But Christian villagers near the border have also been trapped in the cross-fire.
“When Israel bombards, it flies over our heads. And when Hezbollah fires back, it also whizzes by above,” Christian Joseph Jarjour told AFP by phone from the border village of Rmeish.
“We’re peaceful, we don’t have any weapons. We’ve never liked war,” he said.
In Israel, people were preparing for Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar which begins on Friday, though troops will continue operations against Hezbollah and Hamas.
From sundown on Friday until nightfall on Saturday, Israeli markets will close, flights will stop and public transport will halt as most Jews fast and pray on the Day of Atonement.
On Thursday, Israel appeared to target Hezbollah’s security chief in air strikes on Beirut that killed 22 people, the deadliest on the centre of the capital since the conflict erupted.
In central Beirut, residents, some weeping, were checking their homes and asking for news of neighbours, after a strike on Thursday that appeared to target Hezbollah’s security chief killed 22 people.
“The head of Hezbollah’s security apparatus, Wafiq Safa, was targeted,” a source close to Hezbollah told AFP Friday, requesting anonymity to discuss the matter.
Safa was close to Hezbollah’s late leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike on south Beirut last month.
But people in the neighbourhood were stunned by the ferocity of the strike.
“There are a lot of families living here,” many displaced from south Lebanon and who have relatives in the neighbourhood, said Bilal Othman.
“Do they (Israel) want to tell us there is no safe place left in this country?”
On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced hope for a diplomatic solution that would avert a broader conflict, as he backed efforts by the state to assert itself against Hezbollah.
“It’s clear that the people of Lebanon have an interest – a strong interest – in the state asserting itself and taking responsibility for the country and its future,” he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week urged Lebanese people to rise up against Hezbollah or risk a similar fate to the people of Hamas-run Gaza. 
“Free your country from Hezbollah so that this war can end,” he said.
Hezbollah began firing on Israel in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas, following the October 7, 2023 attack, the worst in Israel’s history.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and bring back the hostages seized by militants on October 7.
More recently, with Hamas weakened but not crushed in Gaza, Netanyahu promised to secure Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, in order to allow tens of thousands of Israelis displaced from their homes by Hezbollah’s cross-border fire to return.
With Lebanon deep in political and economic crisis for years, the power and influence of Iran-backed Hezbollah has become ever more entrenched in the Mediterranean country.
Israel has also promised to retaliate against Iran’s missile attack, which Tehran had said was vengeance for the assassination of two of its closest allies, Hezbollah leader Nasrallah and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, along with an Iranian general.
The United States has cautioned its ally Israel against attempting to target Iran’s nuclear facilities and opposes striking oil installations.
Hezbollah began firing on Israel in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas, following the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel’s military campaign has wrought devastation on Gaza and, according to data from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, killed 42,126 people, mostly civilians.
Late Friday, Gaza’s civil defence agency reported that 30 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Jabalia, north Gaza.
The co-head of a Japanese atomic bomb survivor group awarded the Nobel Peace Prize said the situation for children in Gaza reminded him of the plight of survivors after World War II.
“It’s like in Japan 80 years ago,” Toshiyuki Mimaki said in Tokyo.