UN peacekeeping mission detects over 1,500 instances of firing between Israel, Lebanon in single day

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) — The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) detected 1,557 instances of firing on Sunday across the Blue Line between Israel and Lebanon, with 1,441 originated from south of the Blue Line primarily striking areas in Sector East of the UNIFIL area of operations, a UN spokesman said on Monday.
The number was the highest in one day since Oct. 8, 2023, including 116 instances of firing from north of the Blue Line into Israel, with a Hezbollah drone strike near Haifa reportedly killing 4 IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers and injuring several others, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, at a daily briefing.
Dujarric said that over 30 people have been killed in southern Lebanon since Oct. 10.
“UNIFIL continuously assesses and reviews all factors to determine its own posture and its own presence. The mission is taking all possible measures to ensure the protection of its peacekeepers,” he said.
Noting that UNIFIL’s role and presence in southern Lebanon is mandated by the UN Security Council, the spokesman said the mission is committed to preserving its capacity to support a diplomatic solution based on Security Council resolution 1701, which “is the only way forward.”
Dujarric said UNIFIL reports that since Oct. 1, its positions have been impacted on 20 occasions, including by direct fire, and on one occasion, breached by two tanks from the IDF. Five peacekeepers have been injured during these incidents, including one peacekeeper who sustained a bullet wound.
In a statement issued by the spokesman on Sunday, the UN chief reiterated that UNIFIL personnel and its premises must never be targeted, and attacks against peacekeepers are in breach of international law, including international humanitarian law. “He called on all parties, including the IDF, to refrain from any and all actions that put our peacekeepers at risk,” said Dujarric.
Meanwhile, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that Lebanon is in “the midst of its most devastating humanitarian crisis in a generation.”
More than 2,200 deaths and over 10,000 of injured people have been reported so far by Lebanese authorities. OCHA said more than a million people have already been displaced, both within Lebanon and to other countries, with that number expected to rise as hostilities continue.
The office said health facilities are also heavily impacted. The World Health Organization reports that out of 207 primary health care centers in conflict areas, 100 have now shut down, and five hospitals have closed due to structural damage from the ongoing attacks. The violence has resulted in the deaths of 94 health workers while on duty. ■