UN peacekeeper undergoes surgery after shooting in Lebanon, as Irish soldiers remain unharmed

12 Oct 2024, 13:53 by AFP, https://www.thejournal.ie/author/afp/ · TheJournal.ie

LAST UPDATE | 10 mins ago

A UN PEACEKEEPER has undergone surgery after being shot in Lebanon overnight amid fighting between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.

All Irish soldiers remain unharmed. Buildings at a Unifil’s camp in Ramyah in southern Lebanon also saw “significant damage” due to explosions from shelling nearby.

Unifil confirmed the attacks on its social channels but said it doesn’t yet know where the gunfire came from.

“Last night, a peacekeeper at UNIFIL’s headquarters in Naqoura was hit by gunfire due to ongoing military activity nearby. He underwent surgery at our Naqoura hospital to remove the bullet and is currently stable,” it said.

“We do not yet know the origin of the fire.

“Also last night, buildings in our UN position in Ramyah sustained significant damage due to explosions from nearby shelling.

It added that it wanted each group in the area to remember “obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and premises, including avoiding combat activities” near Unifil positions.

Israel warning

Israel has warned residents of south Lebanon “not to return” to their homes today as Hezbollah said it launched missiles across the border on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

In cities around Israel, markets were closed and public transport halted as observant Jews fasted and prayed.

But with the country at war, troops remained engaged in combat in Hamas-run Gaza and in southern Lebanon, a traditional Hezbollah stronghold, amid a firestorm of criticism over the wounding of four UN peacekeepers.

In a message addressed to south Lebanese, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X: “For your own protection, do not return to your homes until further notice… Do not go south; anyone who goes south may put his life at risk.”

The war between Israel and Hezbollah has killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon since 23 September, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, and forced more than a million to flee their homes.

On Saturday, Hezbollah said it had launched missiles at an Israeli army base near the northern city of Haifa.

In a statement the group said its fighters were “targeting the explosives factory there with a salvo of… missiles”.

Air raid sirens sounded in northern Israel, with the Israeli military saying it had intercepted a projectile launched from Lebanon.

Israel began pounding Gaza shortly after suffering its worst ever attacks from Iran-backed Hamas militants on 7 October last year, and it launched a ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon on 30 September.

After the Yom Kippur holiday, attention is likely to turn again to Israel’s expected retaliation against Iran, which launched around 200 missiles at Israel on 1 October.

Gaza Strip

The Israeli military has also renewed its orders for Palestinian in the northern Gaza Strip to leave their homes and shelters as troops continue an offensive against militants.

Military spokesman Avichay Adraee told people to leave parts of Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan area and other locations in and around Jabaliya, the urban refugee camp where Israeli forces carried out several major operations over the course of the war.

In a post on X, Mr Adraee asked people to head south to Muwasi, a packed area in southern Gaza designated by the military as a humanitarian zone.

Most of the fighting in the past week was centred in and around Jabaliya that was pounded by Israeli war jets and artillery.

Residents said they have been trapped inside their homes and shelters.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who say women and children make up more than half of the fatalities.

‘Deliberately targeted’

On Friday, Israel faced severe diplomatic backlash over what it said was a “hit” on a United Nations peacekeeping position in Lebanon.