Three United Nations military observers and a Lebanese civilian assistant were injured this Saturday, March 30, in southern Lebanon, the scene of violent clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli army since October 8, in the wake of the war in Gaza.
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With our correspondent in Lebanon, Paul Khalifeh
The circumstances of the incident which occurred in the border village of Rmeich are unclear. The Lebanese army announced that the UN staff members were injured when their vehicle was hit by an Israeli drone strike, which the Jewish state immediately denied.
Explosion not far from a foot patrol
The spokesperson for the UN Interim Force, UNIFIL, deployed in the south of the country, Andrea Tenenti, declared for his part that an explosion occurred near a foot patrol of the Group of observers at Lebanon. This United Nations body is responsible for monitoring the truce concluded between Lebanon and Israel in 1949 and works closely with UNIFIL.
This is not the first incident involving UN personnel in southern Lebanon. On November 25, 2023, UNIFIL declared that one of its patrols had been hit by Israeli fire without causing any casualties.
A missile launch pad?
The “blue helmets” have increased their patrols in the Rmeich sector since an incident on Tuesday March 26 between residents of this Christian village and Hezbollah fighters who were trying to install a missile launch pad not far from residential areas. . Hassan Nasrallah’s party had denied its intention to fire rockets from this location.
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