Israeli forces fire at UN peacekeepers in Lebanon for third day in a row, 22 killed in Beirut strike

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — An Israeli Soldier holds a weapon, amid the ongoing ground operation of the Israeli army against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Sept. 13, 2024. (Reuters)

By Amina Ismail, Timour Azhari and Ari Rabinovitch

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli forces fired at a watchtower used by U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Friday, injuring two, a U.N. source said, the third day in a row peacekeepers have reported Israeli fire at their positions as Israel wages war on Hezbollah.

Renewing his call for a ceasefire, Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said a strike in the heart of Beirut late on Thursday had killed 22 civilians and wounded another 139.

The target was a senior Hezbollah official - Wafiq Safa - who survived, according to three security sources.

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted one year ago when the Iranian-backed group opened fire in support of Palestinian militant group Hamas at the start of the Gaza war.

It has intensified dramatically in recent weeks, with Israel bombing Beirut's southern suburbs, the south and the Bekaa Valley, killing many of Hezbollah's top leaders, and sending ground troops into areas of southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah firing rockets deeper into Israel.

Thursday night's airstrike marked the third in Beirut itself since Israel went on the offensive on Sept. 23.

At a Beirut hospital that received dozens of wounded, a man sat in a chair in a corridor, his knees covered in white bandages, and his face and body covered with wounds.

"The situation ... I don’t even know how to describe it. We received three martyrs ... in pieces,” said Wael al-Jaroush, head of the Makassed hospital's medical department.

"This is the first time we’ve received such a large number of injured from a strike in Beirut."

Among the dead was a family of eight, including three children, who had evacuated from the south, according to a security source.

Safa, the apparent target, performs a political and security role in Hezbollah, suggesting Israel could be widening its targeting of the Hezbollah leadership beyond the military commanders and top echelon it has so far focused on.

In northern Israel, a Thai worker was killed as a result of fallen munition, likely fired from Lebanese territory, the Israeli military said. The Israeli airforce killed a Hezbollah commander responsible for attacks with anti-tank missiles into the area of Ramot Naftali in northern Israel, the military said.

Hezbollah issued no immediate comment on that claim.

RUSSIAN OUTRAGE

The U.N. source said the UNIFIL peacekeeper tower which came under Israeli fire on Friday is located at the force's main base in Naqoura. On Thursday, UNIFIL said another two peacekeepers were wounded when an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower at the same base, hitting it and causing them to fall.

The U.N. source said that Israeli forces on Friday also breached the perimeter of another UNIFIL position which they had fired at on Thursday.

The Israeli military said that it had received a report regarding a hit on a UNIFIL outpost in the Naqoura area in which two UNIFIL personnel were injured and the incident was under review.

In New York on Thursday, Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said Israel recommends UNIFIL relocate 5 km (3 miles) north "to avoid danger as fighting intensifies".

Russia's Foreign Ministry said it was outraged by what it said was an Israeli military attack on the peacekeepers and demanded that Israel refrain from any "hostile actions" against them.

Israel's military said on Thursday its troops opened fire near a UNIFIL base in the area of Naqoura after instructing U.N. forces in the area to remain in protected spaces. It said that Hezbollah fighters operate from within and near civilian areas in southern Lebanon, including areas near UNIFIL posts.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said an escalation of conflicts in the Middle East is a serious threat to global security and everything must be done to avoid all-out war in Lebanon. He also condemned Israeli attacks that wounded U.N. personnel.

UNIFIL has more than 10,000 personnel, with Italy, France, Malaysia, Indonesia and India among the biggest contributors.

India said in a statement on Friday it was concerned about the deteriorating security situation along the "Blue Line" that demarcates the frontier between Israel and Lebanon and called for U.N. premises to be respected by all.

Israel says its campaign in Lebanon aims to secure the return home for tens of thousands of people forced to leave northern Israel due to Hezbollah rocket fire over the last year.

Israel's offensive has uprooted more than 1 million people in Lebanon in the last few weeks.

DRONES AND ROCKETS

The Israeli military said an anti-tank rocket fired from Lebanon into Israel wounded two civilians and that at least 26 projectiles fired from Lebanon entered Israeli territory, some of which were intercepted. The Israeli airforce intercepted two drones that approached from Lebanon, it said.

Hezbollah said it had launched a rocket salvo at Israeli troops north of Haifa, and drones at an Israeli air defense command in Haifa.

Israeli strikes have killed at least 2,169 people in Lebanon over the last year, the Lebanese government said. The majority have been killed since Sept. 23. The toll does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Hezbollah fire at Israel has killed at least 54 people, more than half of them civilians, according to Israeli authorities.

The Middle East remains on high alert for further escalation in the region, awaiting Israel's response to an Iranian missile strike on Oct. 1.

Mikati also denounced what he said was an attack on the UNIFIL peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon as a crime. He also said he had discussed efforts to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

(Additional reporting by Laila Bassam, Amina Ismail, Timour Azhari, Tom Perry and Abdelhadi Ramahi in Beirut, Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem, Clauda Tanios, Tala Ramadan and Ahmed Elimam in Dubai and Krishn Kaushi in New Delhi; Writing by Tom Perry and Lincoln Feast; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Sharon Singleton)