The peacekeeping force refrains from blaming Hezbollah, instead saying that ‘non-state actors’ were ‘probably’ behind the attacks.
By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
Several Hezbollah rockets hit United Nations bases in Lebanon Tuesday during barrages aimed at Israel.
At 9:50 AM, Arab-language IDF spokesman Avichai Adraee said, a failed launch among many fired at the Galilee hit a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) post in the Ramiyeh region in southern Lebanon.
The rocket had been fired from the area of Deir Aames, several kilometers north of the post, the IDF said after a careful review.
UNIFIL reported that Post UNP-5-42 east of the village of Ramiyeh had been hit.
Four Ghanaian solders had been lightly injured and the post had been damaged. Three of the troops were taken to hospital for treatment.
UNIFIL was careful not to blame Hezbollah by name for the attack, announcing simply that the projectile was “probably launched by non-state actors in Lebanon.”
The force added that when one of its patrols passed a village called Khirbet Silim, also on Tuesday, an “armed man” opened fire directly at the soldiers, again without providing an affiliation for the perpetrator.
No soldier were injured in the incident.
Hezbollah itself had no problem claiming responsibility for the rocket strike, but instead of admitting its projectile had fallen short, the terrorist group claimed that it had attacked a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the UNIFIL base, and were surprised to find out that they were instead Ghanaian troops.
Another attack on the peacekeepers was recorded in the afternoon, Adraee said.
“Close to 1:30 PM, the UNIFIL post in the Shama area in southern Lebanon was hit as a result of a number of rockets launched by the terrorist organization Hezbollah from the al-Malkiyya area in southern Lebanon,” he said.
According to the Italian defense ministry, its UNIFIL headquarters was struck by eight rockets.
While UNIFIL said the attack damaged a maintenance workshop but injured no one, the Italian statement said that five troops were “being monitored” in the base’s medical facility.
Defense Minister Guido Crosetto had originally accused Israel of attacking the base, calling it “intolerable,” but later the ministry walked back the charge.
A source in the ministry told AFP that Crosetto “did not have the right information” when he spoke, and that “Hezbollah was responsible for the attack.”
This was not the first time that Crosetto was quick to pull the trigger at Israel.
Last week, he had also blamed Israel when an unexploded artillery shell landed in a UNIFIL base, with no damage or injuries caused.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani had joined the accusation, telling his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Sa’ar, that UNIFIL’s soldiers’ safety had to be ensured and that such attacks were “unacceptable.”
Sa’ar promised a “immediate” investigation, and the IDF soon revealed that the shell had emanated from Hezbollah.