UNIFIL Lebanon/ Israeli airstrikes/ Hezbollah conflict/ U.N. peacekeepers injured/ Lebanon news/ Beirut attack/ Newslooks/ BEIRUT/ LEBANON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ Two Lebanese soldiers were killed and three others wounded in an Israeli airstrike that hit a building near a Lebanese Army checkpoint in Kafra, Bint Jbeil province, the Lebanese Army said Friday. Since Israel launched its ground invasion of Lebanon, Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants have clashed along the border while the Lebanese army has largely stood on the sidelines. As Israeli troops made their first forays across the border and Hezbollah responded with rocket fire, Lebanese soldiers withdrew from observation posts along the frontier and repositioned about 5 km back. On Oct. 3, a Lebanese soldier was killed and another injured in an Israeli strike in Taybeh during rescue operations. On Sept. 30, another Lebanese soldier was killed by an Israeli drone targeting a Lebanese Army checkpoint in Wazzani.
Lebanon Peacekeeper Attack Quick Looks
- Explosions at UNIFIL Base: Blasts injured two peacekeepers near an observation tower in Naqoura.
- Tensions Escalate: Israel escalates its attacks, targeting Hezbollah positions near the border.
- Civilian Impact in Beirut: Recent airstrikes killed 22 people and wounded dozens.
- U.S. Position: Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced support for Israel’s defense against Hezbollah.
- UNIFIL Response: The peacekeeping force has relocated personnel and fortified its positions.
Israeli Strikes Target U.N. Base in Lebanon, Injuring Peacekeepers
Deep Look
In the midst of a rising conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, explosions rocked the United Nations peacekeeping headquarters in Naqoura, southern Lebanon, injuring two peacekeepers on Friday morning. The U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported that these blasts occurred near an observation tower within its base. One peacekeeper was hospitalized in Tyre, while the other received medical attention onsite. Although UNIFIL did not specify the cause of the blasts, it follows a recent escalation that saw Israeli military action against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
On Thursday, the Israeli military reportedly fired directly on an observation tower at the UNIFIL headquarters, injuring two Indonesian peacekeepers and damaging nearby bunkers, vehicles, and communication systems. Israel’s intensified strikes have led UNIFIL to increase its personnel at border positions, with the Israeli military also deploying tanks and bulldozers close to these locations.
This escalating confrontation has not been limited to southern Lebanon. In Beirut, at least 22 civilians were killed, and dozens more were injured after two Israeli airstrikes targeted residential areas. This marked the deadliest assault in Beirut in over a year, hitting neighborhoods crowded with displaced residents who had fled earlier strikes. Lebanese and Israeli media reported that these strikes were an attempt to target Wafiq Safa, a high-ranking Hezbollah security official. According to Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television, Safa was not present in the buildings hit by the attack, and the Israeli military has not commented on the attempted strike.
As Hezbollah expands its rocket strikes into more populated areas of Israel, the conflict’s toll has grown. In the early hours of Friday, an anti-tank missile from Lebanon killed a Thai national working on a northern Israeli farm. Civilians and rescue workers continue to search through Beirut’s Burj Abi Haidar district, where strikes leveled a three-story building and left adjacent structures damaged. Ahmad al-Khatib, a Beirut resident, described the chaos as he rescued his daughter from under the debris and found his wife critically injured from the explosion. Al-Khatib’s wife remains in intensive care, and his young daughter escaped with minor injuries.
UNIFIL, established in 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli troops, expanded its mandate following the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah conflict, setting up a buffer zone along the border. Today, UNIFIL’s 10,000-strong peacekeeping force, contributed by dozens of nations, works to monitor compliance with U.N. Security Council mandates, though the escalating violence has challenged its capacity to conduct patrols.
Since Israel’s intensified campaign began last month, hundreds of Lebanese—primarily civilians, Hezbollah fighters, and medical workers—have been killed in Israeli strikes, with many deaths occurring in recent weeks. Hezbollah’s counterstrikes have led to casualties among Israeli soldiers and civilians. Israeli troops have largely concentrated their operations in a limited stretch along the border, where ground invasions continue to attempt to clear Hezbollah positions.
The violence has rippled through the region and heightened international concerns. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking from a meeting in Laos, reaffirmed U.S. support for Israel’s security efforts in its confrontation with Hezbollah. He emphasized Israel’s right to protect its citizens, particularly those forced to leave their border-area homes due to repeated attacks from Hezbollah.
In response to Thursday’s attacks on U.N. sites, the U.N. Security Council convened an emergency session. U.N. peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix reported that frontline personnel were being moved to more secure bases, with some peacekeeping operations temporarily suspended for safety. Lacroix noted that around 300 peacekeepers have already been relocated, with plans to transfer another 200 pending security assessments.
Meanwhile, Israel has signaled its intent to continue its offensive against Hezbollah, warning that Lebanon could face significant destruction unless it curtails the group’s influence. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drew parallels to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza, pledging to hold Iran, Hezbollah’s main supporter, accountable following recent missile attacks attributed to Tehran. Israeli defense forces have been on heightened alert after Iran launched over 180 ballistic missiles toward Israel last week, retaliating for Israeli strikes that targeted senior Hamas and Iranian officials.
As Lebanon’s instability grows, UNIFIL faces one of its most challenging missions in recent years, operating in the volatile border region amidst intensifying hostilities and in coordination with both Lebanon and Israel.
Lebanese Army Reports 2 Soldiers Dead, 3 Hurt in Israeli Strike
An Israeli airstrike killed two Lebanese soldiers and wounded three others near a Lebanese Army checkpoint in Kafra, located in the Bint Jbeil province, according to a statement from the Lebanese Army on Friday. The strike targeted a building close to a military checkpoint, highlighting the intensifying cross-border clashes in southern Lebanon. Since Israel began its ground invasion of Lebanon, there have been frequent confrontations between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters along the shared border. Although the Lebanese Army has mostly avoided direct engagement, it has taken precautionary measures, pulling back from observation posts along the border and relocating personnel approximately 5 kilometers away to reduce exposure to attacks.
This incident follows a series of fatal strikes on Lebanese military personnel since the escalation began. On October 3, an Israeli airstrike in Taybeh killed one Lebanese soldier and wounded another during a rescue operation. Days earlier, on September 30, an Israeli drone strike targeted a Lebanese Army checkpoint in Wazzani, resulting in the death of another Lebanese soldier. The recent violence underscores the ongoing tension along the Israel-Lebanon border, where Hezbollah and Israeli forces continue to exchange fire amidst a volatile and increasingly dangerous situation for the Lebanese military and civilians in the region.
