The Austrian Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday that eight Austrian soldiers within the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) sustained minor and superficial injuries as a result of a missile attack on the Naqoura camp near the Israeli border.

The ministry added in a statement, “We condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms and demand that it be investigated immediately.”

It was stated that the source of the attack is not clear at the present time, and none of the soldiers were in need of urgent medical care.

Austrian Defense Minister Claudia Tanner condemned the attack, and called on all parties to immediately stop fighting in the areas surrounding UNIFIL bases.

UNIFIL statement

In the same context, UNIFIL forces operating in Lebanon issued a statement on Tuesday in which they said, “This afternoon, a missile hit the UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura, leading to a fire breaking out in a machinery repair shop.” The peacekeepers were not in the shelters at the time of the incident.”

The statement confirmed that while “some peacekeepers were slightly injured,” it noted that “the missile was launched from the north of the UNIFIL headquarters, most likely by Hezbollah or a group affiliated with it, and we have opened an investigation into the incident.”< /p>

Israeli attacks on UNIFIL

These developments come after UNIFIL forces said on Friday that its soldiers withdrew from an observation post in the town of Dhahira in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, October 22, after Israeli forces opened fire on the site.

The force said that when Israeli soldiers, who were clearing nearby homes, noticed that they were under surveillance, they opened fire on the site, prompting the soldiers on guard duty to withdraw to avoid injury.

She added that the Israeli army has repeatedly asked UNIFIL forces to evacuate their positions along the Blue Line in southern Lebanon, and deliberately caused damage to cameras, lighting and communications equipment in some of these locations.

The force said in a separate statement that a medical facility at a UNIFIL site in Beit Lev was hit on Wednesday by a shell or missile of unknown origin, causing damage to the buildings.

Later, two shells or rockets of unknown origin also fell near a UNIFIL site in Kafr Shuba, causing damage to the accommodation and shelters of peacekeepers in both sites.

The United Nations said that five peacekeepers had been injured since the start of the Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon on October 1.

UNIFIL positions were damaged at least 20 times, including by direct fire and on 13 October when two Israeli tanks stormed the gates of a UNIFIL force base.

Source: French + Reuters