Israeli forces fired at a watchtower used by U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Friday, injuring two, a U.N. source said, the third day in a row peacekeepers have reported Israeli fire at their positions as Israel wages war on Hezbollah.
An Israeli strike late on Thursday in the heart of Beirut killed 22 people and injured more than 100, Lebanese authorities said. The target was a senior Hezbollah official – Wafiq Safa – who survived, according to three security sources.
In northern Israel, a Thai worker was killed when Hezbollah fired an anti-tank missile at a farming area, the national ambulance service said. The Israeli airforce killed a Hezbollah commander responsible for attacks with anti-tank missiles into the area of Ramot Naftali in northern Israel, the military said.
Hezbollah issued no immediate comment on that claim.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted one year ago when the Iranian-backed group opened fire in support of Palestinian militant group Hamas at the start of the Gaza war.
It has intensified dramatically in recent weeks, with Israel bombing Beirut’s southern suburbs, the south and the Bekaa Valley, killing many of Hezbollah’s top leaders, and sending ground troops into areas of southern Lebanon.
The U.N. source said the UNIFIL peacekeeper tower which came under Israeli fire on Friday is located at the force’s main base in Naqoura. On Thursday, UNIFIL said another two peacekeepers were wounded when an Israeli tank fired at a watchtower at the same base, hitting it and causing them to fall.
The U.N. source said that Israeli forces on Friday also breached the perimeter of another UNIFIL position which they had fired at on Thursday.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on Friday’s reported incidents.
