Israeli forces destroy 17 UN peacekeeper cameras in south Lebanon, says UN official
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Peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon driving past a Lebanese army outpost in Naqura, southern Lebanon, on March 27.
PHOTO: AFP
DeeperDive is a beta AI feature. Refer to full articles for the facts.
- Israeli forces destroyed seventeen UNIFIL headquarters' surveillance cameras in southern Lebanon over 24 hours, according to a UN security official.
- UNIFIL reports Israeli demolitions damaged their headquarters, with three Indonesian peacekeepers killed and three wounded in separate incidents.
- Indonesia condemned the attacks, stressing the urgent need for increased protection for UN peacekeepers amidst escalating conflict.
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BEIRUT – Israeli forces destroyed 17 surveillance cameras linked to the UN peacekeepers’ main headquarters in southern Lebanon within 24 hours, a UN security official told AFP on April 4.
Since the start of the Israel-Hezbollah war on March 2, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been caught in the crossfire in the country’s south, with Hezbollah launching attacks on Israel and its troops, and Israeli forces pushing into border towns.
The official, who requested anonymity, said, “17 of the headquarters’ cameras have been destroyed by the Israeli army” in the coastal town of Naqura.
UNIFIL spokeswoman Kandice Ardiel told AFP on April 4 that “the cameras appear to have been destroyed by some kind of laser”.
She added that “(Israeli) soldiers are present in Naqura and have been undertaking massive demolitions of buildings in the village this week”.
Earlier this week, Ms Ardiel told AFP that “not only have these demolitions destroyed civilian homes and businesses, but the strength of the blasts has (also) caused damage to UNIFIL’s headquarters”.
Three Indonesian peacekeepers from the UN force have been killed in two separate incidents over the past week.
UNIFIL also reported on April 3 that an “explosion” in one of its bases near Odaisseh in south Lebanon wounded three personnel, adding that they “do not yet know the origin of the explosion”.
The Israeli army accused Hezbollah of firing “a rocket that landed in a UNIFIL outpost”.
The UN office in Jakarta said on April 4 that the wounded were Indonesian.
Indonesia condemned the incident as “unacceptable”, saying “these events underscore the urgent need to strengthen protection for UN peacekeeping forces amid an increasingly dangerous conflict situation”.
According to the UN, 97 force members have been killed in violence since its establishment in 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon. AFP
