Four UN peacekeepers injured in Lebanon

Four UN peacekeepers in Italy were injured by rocket fire Lebanon Rome and the UN force said on Friday.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed “deep indignation and concern” at “the 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 “parties on the ground to guarantee, at all times, the safety of UNIFIL soldiers and cooperate to quickly identify those responsible.”

Meloni did not assign blame, but Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani told reporters it was likely Hezbollah.

“It was believed to be two rockets, apparently they are believed to have been fired 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 hit the Western Sector Headquarters” in Shamaa, about five kilometers (three miles) from the Israeli border.

The village has been a battleground between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters for about a week.

The rockets were “probably 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 injuries were not life-threatening, “were receiving treatment at the base hospital,” the statement said.

“UNIFIL strongly urges combatants to avoid fighting near its positions,” it added.

Hezbollah claims

A Hezbollah statement said its fighters targeted “a gathering of enemy Israeli troops at Shamaa with a rocket salvo.”

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said two 122 mm rockets appeared to have hit a bunker at the base.

Peacekeepers were injured by shards of glass when the windows shattered, Crosetto said, adding that the rocket fire was “intolerable”.

He said he contacted his Lebanese counterpart “reiterating that the Italian UNIFIL contingent remains in southern Lebanon to provide a window of opportunity for peace and cannot become hostage to militia attacks.”

“I will try to talk to the new Israeli defense minister (Israel Katz), which has been impossible since taking office, to ask him to avoid using UNIFIL bases as a shield,” he said.

“Even more intolerable is the presence of terrorists in southern Lebanon, who endanger the safety of the peacekeepers and the civilian population.”

In charge of monitoring the blue line that separates Lebanon from Israel, UNIFIL’s 10,000 peacekeepers have come under repeated attacks during the current Israel-Hezbollah war.