Beirut, June 4 (SANA) A United Nations peacekeeper was killed and four civilians died in separate incidents in southern Lebanon on Thursday amid continued military escalation in the area, according to UNIFIL and Lebanese media reports.
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said a peacekeeper died from critical injuries sustained when mortar rounds struck his position near Marjayoun in southeastern Lebanon late Wednesday.
In a statement, UNIFIL said the peacekeeper was airlifted to a hospital in Beirut shortly after the attack but later succumbed to his wounds. Two other peacekeepers were injured and are receiving treatment at a medical facility within the mission’s base.
The force said it had launched an investigation into the incident and noted a recent increase in projectile fire impacting southern Lebanon.
UNIFIL stressed that deliberate attacks against peacekeepers constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law and UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and could amount to war crimes.
Earlier on Thursday, Serbia’s Ministry of Defense identified the deceased peacekeeper as a Serbian national, saying he was killed after a projectile struck a UN position.
Separately, four people were killed and several others injured in Israeli airstrikes targeting areas in western Bekaa and southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.
The agency reported that Israeli strikes on the town of Sohmor in western Bekaa killed three people and wounded several others.
In a separate attack, one person was killed and another injured when an Israeli drone targeted a motorcycle in the town of Maaroub in the Tyre district.
Israeli aircraft also carried out strikes on the town of Tebnin in the Bint Jbeil district, causing several injuries, while three people were wounded earlier in the day in an Israeli strike on the Marjayoun area.
According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health, Israeli attacks on Lebanon since March 2 have killed 3,516 people and injured 10,674 others.
UNIFIL, which has operated in southern Lebanon since 1978 under a United Nations mandate, continues to face growing security risks amid ongoing hostilities and exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah near its positions.
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