Two UN peacekeepers in Lebanon have been wounded by Israeli fire, the mission said on Thursday, as Israel’s military ground operations in the country continued.
In a statement, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said two of its members were wounded after a Merkava tank fired towards an observation tower at Unifil headquarters in Naqoura, “directly hitting it and causing them to fall”.
“[Israeli] soldiers also fired on UN position (UNP) 1-31 in Labbouneh, hitting the entrance to the bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering, and damaging vehicles and a communications system,” said the peacekeeping mission.
“An IDF drone was observed flying inside the UN position up to the bunker entrance.”
Israeli attacks in Lebanon over the past month, including a bombing campaign and ground invasion, have killed over 1,200 people and displaced one million.
Wars always are.
But warring factions almost always use the religion of the people as a strong lever and excuse in order to maintain the support of those people for the war effort.
This is no different. There have been strong and influential factions (on both sides of the conflict) who have claimed that the piece of dirt they’re fighting over is holy land to both of the religions represented.