The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) says that an Israeli tank rammed peacekeeping vehicles on Sunday in the country’s south, where Israel and Hezbollah have been at war since last month, AFP reports.
“On two occasions today, Israel Defence Forces soldiers rammed UNIFIL vehicles with a Merkava tank, in one case causing significant damage,” the statement says, adding that the Israeli soldiers has blocked a road in south Lebanon’s Bayada that is used to access Unifil positions.
“Over the past week, Israeli soldiers have fired ‘warning shots’ in the area, striking and damaging clearly identifiable Unifil vehicles. In one case, a ‘warning shot’ landed a metre away from a peacekeeper who had dismounted his vehicle,” the statement adds.
“Israeli soldiers have continually blocked peacekeepers’ movements on this road in recent days, in addition to denials of freedom of movement recorded in other areas,” it says.
This month, “Israeli soldiers have also destroyed force protection cameras” in Unifil’s headquarters in Naqura “and five other positions”, the statement says.