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<h1>UN peacekeepers in Lebanon say patrol hit by Israeli fire</h1><p class="gmail-article__subhead gmail-css-1wt8oh6"><em>United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon condemns attack as ‘deeply troubling’, no troops were injured.</em></p><div class="gmail-responsive-image"><img src="https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/343Y7ZJ-highres-1700575053.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80" alt="Lebanon" width="391" height="260" style="margin-right: 25px;"></div>Smoke
 billows following Israeli shelling on the outskirts of Lebanon's 
southern village of Tayr Harfa near the border with Israel on November 
18, 2023 [File: AFP]<div class="gmail-article-info-block gmail-css-ti04u9"><div class="gmail-article-b-l" style="border-color:rgb(250,144,0)"><div class="gmail-article-dates" style="border-color:rgb(250,144,0)"><div class="gmail-date-simple gmail-css-1yjq2zp"><span class="gmail-screen-reader-text">Published On 25 Nov 2023</span><span aria-hidden="true"><br></span></div><div class="gmail-date-simple gmail-css-1yjq2zp"><font size="1"><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/25/un-lebanon-peacekeepers-say-israeli-fire-hits-patrol">https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/25/un-lebanon-peacekeepers-say-israeli-fire-hits-patrol</a></font></div></div></div><div class="gmail-social-share-buttons"><a class="gmail-social-share-button" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Share on Facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Faje.io%2F7egkmh"></a></div></div><a class="gmail-social-share-button" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Share on Twitter" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=UN%20peacekeepers%20in%20Lebanon%20say%20patrol%20hit%20by%20Israeli%20fire&source=sharethiscom&related=sharethis&via=AJEnglish&url=https%3A%2F%2Faje.io%2F7egkmh"></a><div class="gmail-article-info-block gmail-css-ti04u9"><div class="gmail-social-share-buttons"></div></div><div class="gmail-wysiwyg gmail-wysiwyg--all-content gmail-css-ibbk12"><p>The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon has said that Israeli fire hit one of its patrols in the country’s south, despite a <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/23/what-to-know-about-the-upcoming-truce-between-israel-and-hamas">truce between Israel and Hamas</a> largely quietening the Lebanon-Israel frontier.</p>
<p>“At around 12:00 pm, a UNIFIL patrol was hit by [Israeli army] 
gunfire” in the vicinity of Aitarun, the United Nations Interim Force in
 Lebanon said in a statement on Saturday.</p>
<p>“No peacekeepers were injured, but the vehicle was damaged,” it said,
 adding that “this incident occurred during a period of relative calm” 
along the border between Israel and Lebanon.</p>
<p>Since the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/11/25/israel-hamas-live-news-prisoners-and-captives-welcomed-home">Israel-Palestine conflict began on October 7</a>, the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/31/is-the-trajectory-of-lebanon-israel-border-conflict-changing">frontier between Lebanon and Israel</a>
 has seen intensifying exchanges of fire, mainly between Israel and Shia
 movement Hezbollah, but also Palestinian groups, raising fears of a 
broader conflagration.</p>
<p>The scope of the border fighting has gradually increased over the 
weeks, but it has not turned into an all-out war yet. At first, the two 
sides started hitting each other with artillery attacks, and Israel also
 brought in its drones.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/25/gaza-truce-holds-into-second-day-more-captives-to-be-released">four-day truce</a>
 between Israel and Hamas began on Friday, and a source close to 
Hezbollah told the AFP news agency that the Iran-backed group would also
 adhere to the truce if Israel did.</p>
<p>UNIFIL said “this attack on peacekeepers, dedicated to reducing 
tensions and restoring stability in south Lebanon, is deeply troubling,”
 adding, “we condemn this act.”</p>

<p></p></div><p>Last month, shelling lightly <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/10/28/israel-hamas-war-live-israeli-bombings-intensify-as-gaza-goes-dark">wounded a UN peacekeeper</a>
 near the border village of Hula, just hours after UNIFIL said a shell 
hit its headquarters in Naqura near the Israel-Lebanon border.</p>
<p>The force said it was investigating those incidents.</p>
<p>“We strongly remind the parties of their obligations to protect 
peacekeepers and avoid putting the men and women who are working to 
restore stability at risk,” Saturday’s UNIFIL statement said.</p>
<p>Cross-border fire has killed 109 people in Lebanon, including 77 
Hezbollah fighters and 14 civilians, three of them journalists, 
according to an AFP count.</p>
<p>Six Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed on the Israeli side, according to the authorities.</p>
<p>Even as many Lebanese may feel for the plight of Palestinians, they also <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/30/lebanon-fears-regional-war-as-hezbollah-israel-fighting-intensifies">fear getting entangled in a new conflict</a>,
 many having already experienced the 2006 war in which more than 1,200 
people were killed in Lebanon, many of them civilians. At least 165 
Israelis were also killed.</p>
<p>Since the pause went into effect on Friday, calm has largely returned to Lebanon’s southern border.</p>
<p>UNIFIL was set up in 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces
 after they invaded Lebanon in reprisal for a Palestinian attack.</p>
<p>It was bolstered after the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel in 
2006, and its roughly 10,000 peacekeepers are tasked with monitoring the
 ceasefire between the two sides.</p>

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