Israel launched a “new attack” on Tuesday against a base of the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto announced, denouncing an “intolerable” act. “Today there was a new attack. Three rockets fell on Chamaa. It's intolerable,” he declared in Brussels, on the sidelines of a meeting of European defense ministers.
More than 10,000 UNIFIL soldiers present in Lebanon
“I tried to contact my new Israeli colleague (Israel Katz, Editor's note), I did not succeed, to reaffirm what I had said to (his predecessor Yoav) Gallant, namely that the bases of UNIFIL are bases representing the international mission of the UN but which are also countries friendly to Israel,” he continued.
In a statement, the Italian Ministry of Defense reported “eight 107 millimeter rockets hit the headquarters of the Italian contingent and the western sector of UNIFIL in Chamaa, in southern Lebanon.” The projectiles fell on “open air areas and the spare parts warehouse where no soldiers were present.” The incident did not cause any injuries but “five Italian soldiers were placed under observation in the base infirmary”, the same source said.
Italy finally accused Hezbollah of being responsible for rocket attacks Tuesday against the headquarters of the Italian contingent of the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which it had initially blamed to Israel. Defense Minister Guido Crosetto denounced in the afternoon from Brussels “an intolerable attack” and said he wanted to make this known to his Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz. But according to a ministry source to AFP, “the minister did not have the right information” at that time. “Hezbollah is responsible for the attack,” added this source.
“Investigations are underway to determine the starting point of the shooting and identify those responsible,” underlines the ministry. More than 10,000 UNIFIL peacekeepers have been stationed in southern Lebanon since 1978 to act as a buffer with Israel, responsible in particular for monitoring the Blue Line, the demarcation line set by the UN between the two countries. Italy is the main European contributor (1,068 soldiers, according to the UN), ahead of Spain (676), France (673) and Ireland (370).
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