United Nations peacekeepers have said three military observers and a translator were wounded a day ago in a blast in southern Lebanon, where Israel and the Hezbollah movement trade frequent cross-border fire.

Peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) patrol the so-called Blue Line, the border demarcated by the UN in 2000 when Israeli troops pulled out of southern Lebanon. The UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) supports the peacekeeping mission.

Three UNTSO “military observers and one Lebanese language assistant on a foot patrol along the Blue Line were injured when an explosion occurred near their location”, Unifil spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said in a statement. The wounded were “evacuated for medical treatment” and Unifil is “investigating the origin of the explosion”, Tenenti added.

“Safety and security of UN personnel must be guaranteed,” the statement said, urging “all actors to cease the current heavy exchanges of fire before more people are unnecessarily hurt”.