2024-03-30 22:57:38
Beirut (agencies)
Yesterday, the United Nations announced that three of its military observers and a translator were injured in an explosion near them during a patrol along the Blue Line in southern Lebanon.
Peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are patrolling the so-called Blue Line, which is the border drawn by the United Nations in 2000 when Israeli forces withdrew from southern Lebanon.
The United Nations Truce Supervision Organization supports the peacekeeping mission.
UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said, “Three military observers from the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization and a Lebanese translator were injured yesterday morning while conducting a foot patrol along the Blue Line.”
He added, “They have now been evacuated to receive medical treatment,” noting that “UNIFIL is investigating the origin of the explosion.”
Tenenti stressed that “the safety and security of United Nations personnel must be provided,” and urged “all parties to stop the current violent exchange of fire before more people are unnecessarily harmed.”
The Norwegian Ministry of Defense said that a Norwegian UN observer suffered “minor injuries” and was taken to hospital.
Ministry spokesman Hanne Olafsen (NTB) stated that “the circumstances surrounding the attack are not clear,” according to the Norwegian News Agency.
Tenente explained that the other observers were from Australia and Chile, adding that all four wounded were in “stable” condition.
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati denounced what he considered a “serious incident.”
The Lebanese Foreign Ministry also denounced the “attack that violates international law.”
For his part, the UNIFIL spokesman stressed that “it is the responsibility of all actors under international humanitarian law to ensure protection for non-combatants, including peacekeepers, journalists, medical workers and civilians.”
The United Nations Observer Group in Lebanon is an unarmed military observation mission that arrived in Lebanon in 1949 as part of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization.
The team includes more than 50 military observers, according to the United Nations.
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