Israel Blames Hezbollah for Blast Injuring UNIFIL Personnel

Jerusalem, 3 April, 2024 (TPS) -- The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday blamed Hezbollah for a recent explosion that injured several UNIFIL personnel in Southern Lebanon.

Three members of the international observer team and a local interpreter patrolling on foot in the area of Rmaich were injured by a bomb on Saturday.

“According to the information available to the IDF, the explosion that occurred last Saturday (30/3) in Rmaich, which resulted in the injury of a number of members of the international UNIFIL forces, was caused by the exposure of a UNIFIL patrol to the detonation of an explosive device that had been planted by Hezbollah in this area previously,” Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the military’s Arabic spokesperson said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Unverified Lebanese reports had claimed that the patrol was struck by a drone or an artillery shell.

UNIFIL, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, was established in 1978 to confirm Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon. The “blue helmet” force’s mandate was expanded in 2006 following the Second Lebanon War. It is currently manned by 10,500 monitors from 48 countries.

Hezbollah leaders have suggested that they will continue to fire rockets to prevent thousands of residents of northern Israel from returning to their homes. Israeli officials have been calling for Hezbollah to be disarmed and removed from Southern Lebanon in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war.