UN peacekeepers report 'direct' Israeli strike on south Lebanon position

UN peacekeepers have said the Israeli army damaged one of their south Lebanon positions in a "deliberate and direct" action against their forces.

The incident which occurred on Thursday, is like "seven other similar incidents" carried out by the Israeli army, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a statement on Friday.

It "is not a matter of peacekeepers getting caught in the crossfire, but of deliberate and direct actions by the" Israeli army, it said.

Israel sent ground troops into southern Lebanon against the Hezbollah movement in late September.

Two excavators and one bulldozer "destroyed part of a fence and a concrete structure in a UNIFIL position in Ras Naqura," UNIFIL said.

"We also note with concern the destruction and removal this week of two of the blue barrels that mark the UN-delineated line of withdrawal between Lebanon and Israel," it said, noting that peacekeepers "directly observed" the Israeli army removing one of them.

Israeli fire

UNIFIL, currently with more than 9,300 troops, has been stationed in southern Lebanon since 1978 and is tasked with monitoring the "Blue Line" of demarcation with Israel.

UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Lebanon war, stipulated that only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers should be deployed in south Lebanon.

Last month, a UNIFIL spokesman said the force had recorded more than 30 incidents in October resulting in property damage or injury to peacekeepers, about 20 of them from Israeli fire or action.

"Despite the unacceptable pressures being exerted on the mission through various channels, peacekeepers will continue to undertake our mandated monitoring and reporting tasks," UNIFIL said.