![]() |
|
Israeli forces damage UN convoy vehicle in Lebanon: Rome Rome, April 8 (AFP) Apr 08, 2026 Israeli forces fired warning shots at a convoy of Italian UN peacekeepers in Lebanon on Wednesday, prompting Rome to summon their ambassador to protest. An Italian convoy from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) had been carrying personnel from the town of Shama to Beirut when it was targeted by warning shots fired by the Israeli military, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said in a statement. The convoy immediately stopped and returned to base. The incident, in which no injuries were reported, prompted Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to call on Israel to cease attacks in Lebanon. "The continued Israeli attacks in Lebanon, which have already caused too many deaths and an unacceptable number of displaced people, must cease immediately," Meloni said in a statement in which she condemned the incident. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani summoned the Israeli ambassador in Rome Wednesday evening after earlier telling parliament "Italian soldiers in Lebanon are not to be touched". Tajani told parliament that only one vehicle had been damaged, but Crosetto spoke of "minor damage to the vehicles". "It is unacceptable that Italian soldiers deployed under the UN flag, tasked exclusively with guaranteeing peace and stability, should be exposed to risky situations by the Israeli army," Crosetto said. UNIFIL is a peacekeeping mission established in 1978 in southern Lebanon. Italy currently has 754 troops in UNIFIL, the second-largest contingent after Indonesia's 755, according to UN figures published March 30. Meloni said that the Italian UNIFIL convoy was "clearly identifiable as such". Israel has insisted that Lebanon is not included in the ceasefire agreed between the United States and Iran. On Wednesday, Israel said it had struck around 100 Hezbollah sites across Lebanon, describing the operation as the "largest coordinated strike" since the war with Iran began. Three Indonesian peacekeepers were killed in separate incidents in southern Lebanon at the end of March, including two who died after an explosion struck a UNIFIL logistics convoy. |
|
|
|
All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.
|