Israeli forces engaged in fierce fighting with Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon, including the coastal town where the UN peacekeepers were stationed, according to AP News.
Andrea Tenenti, a spokesman for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, said UNIFIL was monitoring “heavy clashes” in the coastal town of Naqoura and the village of Chamaa in the northeast.
We are aware of heavy shelling in the vicinity of our bases.
Italy’s defence ministry said four Italian soldiers were lightly wounded after two exploding rockets hit a UN peacekeeping mission base in Shama in southern Lebanon on Friday.
The fighting came a day after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the military leader of Hamas. The ICC charged them with war crimes and crimes against humanity for the Gaza war and the October 2023 attack on Israel respectively.
The war caused severe destruction in Gaza, devastated parts of the territory and forced almost the entire population of 2.3 million people to flee their homes. About 100 hostages are still in Gaza, at least a third of whom are presumed dead.
Israel also launched airstrikes in Lebanon after the Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles at Israel the day after the Hamas attack last October. Full-scale war broke out in September after nearly a year of smaller-scale conflict.
