Two UN peacekeepers were wounded by an Israeli strike near their watchtower in south Lebanon on Friday, Israel's military said, while blasts shook the peacekeepers' main base in the area for the second time in 48 hours as Israeli forces battled Hezbollah.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Western countries condemned the attacks. The UNIFIL force called it a "serious development" and said the security of UN personnel and property must be guaranteed.
France summoned Israel's ambassador, and issued a statement with Italy and Spain calling such attacks "unjustifiable". US President Joe Biden said he was asking Israel not to hit the UNIFIL forces. Russia said it was "outraged" and demanded Israel refrain from "hostile actions" against peacekeepers.
In Gaza, medics said at least 13 Palestinians were killed late on Friday by Israeli strikes on a home in Jabalia, where Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) says thousands of people are trapped a week after Israel launched an offensive there to stop Hamas from regrouping.
The Israeli military said two peacekeepers had been hurt by Israeli fire as it was engaging with Hezbollah and expressed "deep concern." It said they had been warned hours earlier to take shelter. The United Nations said both were from Sri Lanka.
The watchtower that came under Israeli fire is at UNIFIL's main base in Naqoura. UNIFIL said an Israeli bulldozer had also knocked over barriers at U.N. positions near the Blue Line denoting the frontier between Lebanon and Israel, while tanks had moved into the vicinity.
UNIFIL has more than 10,000 personnel, with Italy, France, Malaysia, Indonesia and India among the biggest contributors.
The chief of staff of Ireland’s Defence Forces, which has around 340 personnel serving in UNIFIL, said Friday’s attack on the observation tower was deliberate.
"An observer tower with a round from a tank directly into it, which is a very small target, has to be very deliberate, and it's a direct fire. So from a military perspective, this is not an accidental act. It's a direct act," Lieutenant General Sean Clancy told RTE television.
Two Indonesian U.N. peacekeepers were hurt on Thursday after falling from a watchtower following Israeli tank fire, after which Israel said its troops had opened fire nearby, and that Hezbollah fighters operated from areas near UNIFIL posts.
A Hezbollah statement late on Friday said the Israeli military had failed in its attempts to advance into southern Lebanon and was facing significant resistance that had resulted in heavy Israeli losses.
It said the Israeli army was using settler homes in several northern Israeli towns as gathering points and that Hezbollah considered them targets. It warned settlers against remaining there.
An Israeli strike in the heart of Beirut on Thursday killed 22 people and wounded 139, caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati said. Lebanon's army said two soldiers were killed and three wounded when Israeli forces attacked a military post in Kafra in the south.
The Middle East remains on high alert for further escalation, awaiting Israel's response to an Iranian missile barrage on October 1.
Israel's expanded operation has displaced more than 1.2 million people, according Lebanon's government, which says more than 2,100 people have been killed and 10,000 wounded in over a year of fighting.
Hezbollah rockets have killed at least 54 people in Israel, more than half civilians, according to Israeli authorities.
