Tenenti reported that the Israeli attacks on peacekeeping forces on Wednesday and Thursday led to the injury of two of their members and the disruption of some of their monitoring capabilities.
“Definitely, this may be one of the most dangerous events or incidents that we have witnessed over the past 12 months,” Tenenti said in an interview, referring to the exchange of fire between Israeli forces and the Lebanese Hezbollah group.
The 50 countries contributing to the force agreed on Thursday to continue deploying more than 10,400 peacekeepers between the Litani River in the north and the UN-recognized border between Lebanon and Israel, known as the Blue Line, in the south.
“We are there because the UN Security Council asked us to be there. So we will stay until the situation becomes impossible for us to act,” Tenente stressed.
UNIFIL said that two of its soldiers were injured in an incident during which an Israeli tank fired on a watchtower at the UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura, which led to the tower being hit and the two individuals falling.
The peacekeeping force indicated in a statement that Israeli forces opened fire on a nearby site, damaging vehicles and a communications system, and deliberately targeted and disabled surveillance cameras in the area.
According to Israel, its forces were active on Thursday near a UNIFIL base in Naqoura, but it added that it had issued instructions to the United Nations forces in the area to remain in protected places, and then opened fire.
The Security Council had assigned UNIFIL forces to assist the Lebanese army in keeping the south of the country free of weapons and non-state militants, which sparked a dispute with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which effectively controls the region.
Tenenti stressed that the attacks have limited the group’s monitoring capabilities, but it still has crucial work to do “to help local NGOs and UN agencies deliver much-needed food and water to all these villages.”
The escalation of Israeli operations in Lebanon in the past few weeks, including air strikes, artillery fire, and ground incursions into the south, led to the displacement of about 1.2 million people.
Regarding this, Tenenti said, “Thousands have left, but thousands are still stuck in this region. Therefore, resolving conflicts is extremely important. This is a very big challenge.”
According to United Nations bodies and journalists told Reuters, they coordinate regularly with UNIFIL when traveling to southern Lebanon to ensure that all parties are aware of its presence in the region.
The Israeli army asked UNIFIL last week to prepare to move more than five kilometers from the Israeli-Lebanese border “as soon as possible in order to preserve your safety,” according to part of the letter seen by Reuters.
During the same period, UNIFIL forces sent a letter to the Israeli army objecting to the stationing of army vehicles and forces “in direct proximity” to United Nations positions on several occasions, including rotating Israeli Merkava tanks around their positions or stopping them next to them.
The letter, dated October 3 and seen by Reuters, said that Israeli forces conducted “engineering works” in the outer perimeter of a United Nations peacekeeping site, which resulted in the conversion of the Israeli site and the United Nations site into “one actual site,” and that these activities “endanger safety and security.” UNIFIL personnel and facilities are at risk.”
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