On Wednesday, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) urged Lebanon and Israel to stop any action that may lead to an escalation in southern Lebanon, a few hours after three Hezbollah members were reportedly injured by an Israeli drone attack near the two countries’ border.
According to official statements, on earlier Wednesday, an Israeli drone attacked Hezbollah members, an Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon, as they were setting up a watch tower on the outskirts of Lebanon’s southern border town of Yarine; the drone injured three of them.
“The UN peacekeeping mission is aware of disturbing reports of an incident along the Blue Line, and we are monitoring the situation,” Candice Ardell, deputy director of UNIFIL Media Office, said in an official statement, adding that “the situation is very sensitive now.”
Official reports show that the Lebanese-Israeli border have recently been witnessing increase tensions over two Hezbollah-erected tents that Israel claimed were built on its territory.
Shortly after 8:00 a.m., UNIFIL peacekeepers detected explosions near Al-Majidiya. We could not confirm the origin or cause of the explosions at the time, but sent peacekeepers to investigate as the sounds were consistent with a possible rocket launch. (1/3)
— UNIFIL (@UNIFIL_)
July 6, 2023
According to official data, Israel has been building a wall along part of the UN Blue Line, which demarcated Lebanon’s and Israel’s territory in 2000, when Israel ended its two decades of occupation of southern Lebanon.
No official border divides Lebanon and Israel, except the Blue Line, which runs from the Mediterranean to the Israel-occupied Golan Heights to the east.
According to several records, Israel and Hezbollah, fought a month-long war in 2006 that ended in a UN-sponsored cease-fire.
