Israel will “continue” to work to avoid endangering the UNIFIL force in Lebanon – DW – 10/13/2024

The Israeli Ministry of Defense said that Minister Yoav Gallant told his American counterpart, Lloyd Austin, that Israel would “continue” to take steps to… Endangering the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)..
The ministry said in a statement after the conversation that took place on Saturday night (October 13, 2024) that Gallant confirmed “… , after injuring at least five people.
UNIFIL accused the Israeli army of “deliberately” firing on its positions. The UN force said its members were exposed to gunfire in recent days in the Lebanese town of Naqoura, where its command headquarters is, and elsewhere.
And Saturday Dant 40 countries participating in the forceincluding Indonesia, Italy and India, in a joint statement that they “strongly condemn the recent attacks against peacekeepers” and stressed ” such activities must stop immediately and be properly investigated.

The UNIFIL force is being deployed in southern Lebanon on the border with Israel International Resolution No. 1701 His command. This force, which has more than 9,500 soldiers, has been caught in the crossfire between Israel and Hezbollah since the party opened a front against the Israeli state in October 2023.
Among the tasks assigned to the force is monitoring the ceasefire that ended a 33-day war in the summer of 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah.

Bombing and clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli army

name Hezbollah About clashes between his fighters and Israeli forces who “tried to enter at dawn on Sunday at two places around the town of Ramieh in southern Lebanon,” according to a statement obtained by Agence France-Presse. The statement said that Hezbollah fighters “implanted an explosive device with a force of enemy Israeli soldiers and fought him when he tried to infiltrate the border. He said that the his combat targeting a gathering of Israeli soldiers on Sunday inside a border town in southern Lebanon, after announcing at dawn that two attempted infiltration sites and bombings in northern Israel had been foiled back.

The party said in a statement that its fighters targeted “a gathering of Israeli enemy forces in the town of Maroun al-Ras with artillery shells” at a time when Israel continues to launch raids on several fronts at the same time as ground attacks.

A year after the start of the cross-border escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli bombing of Lebanon increased, especially in the southern and eastern regions and the southern suburbs of Beirut. Photo: Leo Correa/AP Federation photo/photo

For his part, he commented Israel’s army Last night, his forces launched airstrikes against missile launch pads, anti-tank sites, and weapons caches for Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli army also contributed to that Dozens of Hezbollah fighters were killedaccording to the Times of Israel newspaper on Sunday.

In general, the Israeli Air Force bombed around 200 Hezbollah targets, in southern Lebanon and deep into the country, in the last 24 hours, according to the Israeli army. These targets include Hezbollah cells, missile launch pads, command posts, and combat sites.

The Israeli army also announced that they intercepted on Sunday “about five missiles” that were launched from Lebanon at several areas in the northern part of the Hebrew state. A military statement said, “A warning siren sounded between 8:59 and 9:01 in the Upper Galilee, Middle Galilee, Western Galilee, Haifa Bay, and Carmel regions. About five missiles were identified, launched from Lebanon , and were successfully captured.”

“Damage of historic mosque”

In southern Lebanon, it led to an air strike Israel At dawn on Sunday, a mosque was destroyed, according to the official National News Agency, as part of Israel’s intense bombing campaign on Lebanon in recent weeks. The National Agency said, “At a quarter to three after midnight, enemy aircraft carried out an air strike targeting the old mosque in the center of the city of Kafr Tibnit, and completely destroyed it.”

The mayor of Kafr Tibnit, Fouad Ismail Yassin, told Agence France-Presse that the town, which is about eight kilometers from the border, lost a landmark “that has great symbolism for the townspeople.” “

He said, “Sometimes, families gather in the square near it,” noting that its construction dates back more than a century.

“Medics injured in attack”

The Lebanese Red Cross announced that its paramedics were injured in an Israeli attack on Sunday, when they arrived at a site that had previously been under attack in southern Lebanon. The Red Cross said in a statement, “Following the attack which targeted a house in the town of Sarbin… two ambulances and a team arrived at the scene.” Necessary communication with UNIFIL . He said that when his team arrived, “the house was targeted for the second time, and two paratroopers suffered bruises, one of them slightly injured, and both cars were damaged,” explaining that ” the paramedics were transferred to Tibnin Hospital, and the necessary medical examinations were carried out, and their condition is not a cause for concern.”

It was not possible to get a comment from the Israeli side on the reports regarding the injuries of paramedics from the Lebanese Red Cross and the destruction of a mosque after an air strike in southern Lebanon. While the Israeli army spokesman in Arabic, Avichai Adraee, asked the residents of southern Lebanon to avoid traveling south, in a post on the social networking site, Ex (formerly Twitter).
The spokesman’s statement said, “To the residents of southern Lebanon, we urge you to stop traveling south and return to your homes or olive groves. These are dangerous fighting areas,” according to the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post on Sunday. He emphasized, “We remind you that the war and heavy raids against Hezbollah are still continuing.

A year after Israel declared war on the Hamas movement in Gaza, and Hezbollah declared its support, Israel’s bombing of Lebanon increased, especially on the southern and eastern regions and the southern suburbs of Beirut . Since the escalation began in October 2023, more than 2,100 people have been killed in Lebanon, including more than 1,260 since Israel’s bombing intensified last September, according to an Agence France-Presse-based count on official figures.

Countries are considered Lebanon’s Hezbollah, or its military wing, is a terrorist organization. Among these countries are the United States, the European Union, Great Britain and other countries. Germany banned the party’s activities on its soil in 2020 and declared it a “terrorist organization.”“.

AK/MS (DPA, AFP)