Hezbollah rocket strikes UNIFIL headquarters

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A rocket fired by Hezbollah struck the Lebanese headquarters of the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon in Naqoura, the international peacekeepers confirmed on Tuesday.

UN soldiers along the Israeli-Lebanese border watch Israeli soldiers destroying Hezbollah tunnels crossing into Israeli territory near Metula on Dec. 5, 2018. Photo by Kobi Richter/TPS

“The rocket was fired from north of UNIFIL’s headquarters, likely by Hezbollah or an affiliated group. We have opened an investigation into the incident,” UNIFIL said, adding that some personnel suffered minor injuries and that a vehicle workshop caught fire.

UNIFIL is tasked with monitoring peace between Israel and Lebanon. Israeli officials have called on UNIFIL to evacuate southern Lebanon. In an Oct. 13 video message, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to withdraw the contingent of 10,500 soldiers from 50 countries for their own safety, saying the monitors are “providing a human shield to Hezbollah terrorists.”

Guterres and Western diplomats rejected Netanyahu’s call.

UNIFIL was originally established in 1978 to confirm Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon. According to UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War, the terror group is forbidden from operating in southern Lebanonsouth of the Litani River. Israeli officials have been critical of the peacekeepers for failing to stop Hezbollah, which has fired thousands of rockets at Israel since October 7.

“By and large, every third house in the Shi’ite villages of south Lebanon is used in some way by Hezbollah for military purposes, be it weapons storage, the entrance of a tunnel, or a launchpad for shooting rockets at Israel,” Sarit Zahavi, president and founder of the Alma Research Center told The Press Service of Israel in August.

The “Blue Line” demarcating the 120 km-long Israel-Lebanone border was created in 2000 by UN cartographers to verify Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon, which the UN Security Council later certified as complete. The border runs from Rosh HaNikra on the Mediterranean coast to Mount Dov, where it converges with Syria.

After the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, the Iran-backed Hezbollah began firing rockets and launching drones at northern Israel communities daily. More than 68,000 residents of northern Israel are displaced from their homes. Hezbollah leaders repeatedly said they would continue the attacks to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes.