UNIFIL says Israeli tank fired at peacekeepers watchtower in Lebanon

The UN mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said its peacekeepers at a position near southern Lebanon's Kfar Kela observed an Israeli Merkava tank firing at their watchtower on Wednesday morning.

Two cameras were destroyed, and the tower was damaged, UNIFIL said in its statement.

UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti was interviewed by KAN on Wednesday from Beirut, where he explained why the organization is not evacuating from southern Lebanon, saying that the organization is there "not at the request of the Israeli authorities, but in accordance with the request of the Security Council and the international community.

Further statements by the UNIFIL spokesperson

"It is important to maintain the ability to monitor the area so that it is possible to report to New York and the international community," he further told KAN. "And it is important for both sides to have an impartial and unbiased force that can do this. Additionally, it's important these days to provide humanitarian aid to thousands of people who are still stuck in villages in the south of the country."

When Tenenti was asked if his decision is expected to change in the future, he replied: "It is not up to me to decide. If the situation becomes impossible for the organization to act, the Security Council will have to decide how to proceed."

The UNIFIL spokesperson also referred to the Israeli attacks in the Lebanese capital, and expressed concern about the consequences: "Thousands of people have been killed in recent weeks and it has not stopped. Civilians were killed and not just fighters. Members of humanitarian organizations and medical personnel were injured were also injured," KAN quoted him as saying.