Shafaq News/ On Tuesday, Austria’s Defense Ministry reported that eight of its soldiers serving with UNIFIL in south Lebanon were injured in a rocket attack on the town of Naqoura.
The Austrian Federal Ministry of Defence stated, "There are no serious injuries, and the source of the attack remains unclear." The ministry further condemned the attack, emphasizing that it is unacceptable to endanger UN forces.
Earlier this month, the spokesperson for the UNIFIL announced that the forces operating in southern Lebanon were “deliberately” targeted five times.
Resolution 1701, which ended the destructive 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, strengthened UNIFIL's presence and tasked it with monitoring the ceasefire between the two sides.
UNIFIL was established by the United Nations following Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1978. Its initial mission was to monitor the ceasefire and secure the volatile “Blue Line,” set by the UN to mark the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon.
The clashes between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon’s southern borders began on the heels of the war between Israel and Hamas that erupted on October 7, 2023, when the Lebanese party opened a “support front” for the Gaza Strip.
Israel has intensified its airstrikes on Lebanon since September 23, targeting what it claims are infrastructure and facilities belonging to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, eastern Lebanon, and the southern suburbs of Beirut. Since then, the ongoing Israeli bombardment has resulted in the deaths of 2,710 individuals, including women and children, and 12,593 others were injured.