The official Lebanese National News Agency reported that “an Israeli Merkava tank targeted the position of the international UNIFIL forces – the Spanish battalion, near the Abel al-Qamh area behind the Metulla colony” in northern Israel.
She added that the bombing “directly targeted the control tower, and no casualties were recorded among the center’s personnel.”
For her part, an Israeli army spokeswoman said, “We did not target the UNIFIL force, nor did we bomb a UNIFIL site.”
UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tinetti said the force was “verifying” the source of the fire, adding that the incident “did not result in injuries” but damaged a control tower at the site.
The border region in southern Lebanon has witnessed a worsening military escalation between Israel and Hezbollah since the Hamas attack on October 7, as Israel responded with devastating bombing and a ground operation in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The escalation in southern Lebanon resulted in the killing of more than 120 people, the majority of whom were Hezbollah fighters and a number of civilians.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was established by Security Council resolution in March 1978 to confirm Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon and help the Lebanese government restore its authority in the region.
It was strengthened following the devastating war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006, when the force, numbering about 10,000 soldiers, was tasked with monitoring the ceasefire between the two sides.
During the past weeks, shells targeted the headquarters and centers of UNIFIL, which stressed in a statement “the responsibility of the parties to protect peacekeeping forces.”
Late last month, UNIFIL announced that one of its patrols was exposed to Israeli fire, coinciding with the truce in the Gaza Strip, which reflected a fragile calm in southern Lebanon.
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