The UN UNIFIL peacekeepers say that the tanks of the Israeli armed forces have forcefully penetrated the peacekeepers’ positions. Later, gas charges were fired at the stations.
17:23•Updated 17:46
The UN peacekeeping forces operating in South Lebanon, Unifil, say that Israeli tanks penetrated the peacekeepers’ base in Ramyah.
According to Unifil, two Merkava tanks of the Israeli Armed Forces destroyed the gate of the base and drove through it to the positions of the peacekeepers. This happened around half past five in the morning, It will be announced on Unifil’s Telegram channel.
For some reason, the Israelis demanded that the peacekeepers turn off the base’s lights. The tanks left 45 minutes later after a Unifil negotiator conveyed a message to the Israelis that they were putting the peacekeepers at risk.
However, the peacekeepers’ night did not calm down. A little before seven in the morning, several rounds of gas were fired at the position of the peacekeepers, about a hundred meters north of the camp.
15 peacekeepers got skin symptoms and disorders of the digestive system. The injured are now being treated. Unifil does not mention who might have fired the gas charges.
The commander of the Finnish Unifil forces that reached, lieutenant colonel Jukka Honkanen according to Finns are safe.
According to the release, yesterday Saturday Israeli forces also stopped a transport classified as “critical” by Unifil near Meiss ej Jebel, and thus hindered the peacekeepers’ activities.
Unifil says it has asked Israel for explanations for these “shocking violations”.
Unifil forces saw three Israeli teams cross the border into Lebanon
Unifil says that it has previously seen three Israeli teams cross the border on the blue line to the Lebanese side.
The three squads are roughly 100 soldiers. Israel has recently given evacuation orders to 21 Lebanese villages, which indicates that the country’s armed forces are preparing more military operations in the Lebanese territory.
The news is updated.