3 UN Military Observers, Lebanese Interpreter Wounded in Blast as Israel Denies Involvement

FILE - Spanish UN peacekeepers stand on a hill overlooking the Lebanese border villages with Israel in Marjayoun town on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
FILE - Spanish UN peacekeepers stand on a hill overlooking the Lebanese border villages with Israel in Marjayoun town on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
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3 UN Military Observers, Lebanese Interpreter Wounded in Blast as Israel Denies Involvement

FILE - Spanish UN peacekeepers stand on a hill overlooking the Lebanese border villages with Israel in Marjayoun town on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)
FILE - Spanish UN peacekeepers stand on a hill overlooking the Lebanese border villages with Israel in Marjayoun town on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, File)

Three United Nations military observers and a Lebanese interpreter were wounded Saturday while patrolling the southern Lebanese border after a shell exploded near them, the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said.
The military observers are part of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization, which supports the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL.
The UNIFIL statement said the targeting of peacekeepers is "unacceptable."
Local Lebanese media, citing security officials, said an Israeli drone strike targeted the observers in the southern village of Wadi Katmoun near the border town of Rmeish.
Two security sources had also told Reuters the observers were wounded in an Israeli strike but the Israeli military denied striking in the area.
"Contrary to the reports, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) did not strike a UNIFIL vehicle in the area of Rmeish this morning," the military said.
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the incident in a statement.

The mayor of Rmeish, Milad Alam, told Reuters that he had spoken with the Lebanese translator and confirmed his condition was stable.
"From Rmeish, we heard a blast and then saw a UNIFIL car zipping by. The foreign observers were taken to hospitals in Tyre and Beirut by helicopter and car," Milad said, without providing details on their condition.
One of the observers was a Norwegian citizen, who was lightly injured, the Nordic country's defense ministry told Reuters. Lebanon's National News Agency said the other two wounded observers were Chilean and Australian.



Iran Seeks to Turn ‘New Page’ in Ties with Lebanon

 In this photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, right, shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP)
In this photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, right, shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP)
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Iran Seeks to Turn ‘New Page’ in Ties with Lebanon

 In this photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, right, shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP)
In this photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, right, shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP)

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Lebanese officials on Tuesday that Iran wanted to turn a "new page" in relations with Beirut, hinting at a shift in diplomatic ties that were long grounded in supporting Tehran-backed armed group Hezbollah.

Hezbollah was once a powerful armed movement and political party with sway over Lebanon's state, but it was severely weakened by Israel's bombing campaign last year. Since then, Lebanon's army commander was elected president and a new cabinet with curtailed influence for Hezbollah and its allies took power.

Araqchi's one-day trip to Beirut on Tuesday was his first since February, when he attended the funeral of Hezbollah's secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, killed in Israeli air strikes in September.

Araqchi told both Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi that he wanted to "turn a new page" in Iran's ties with Lebanon, according to statements by Salam and Raggi's offices.

"Araqchi affirmed his country's keenness to open a new page in bilateral relations with Lebanon, based on mutual respect and non-interference in each other's internal affairs," Salam's office said. Araqchi also extended a formal invitation for Salam to visit Iran.

The statement from Raggi's office said the pair had a "frank and direct discussion," including on establishing the state's monopoly on the use of arms - an apparent reference to possible negotiations on the future of Hezbollah's arsenal.

The top Iranian diplomat briefly addressed reporters on Tuesday after meeting with Lebanon's parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who is a key Hezbollah ally. Unlike previous addresses by Iranian diplomats, his comments did not mention Hezbollah.

The visit followed several turbulent episodes in ties between the two countries.

Lebanon's foreign ministry summoned Iran's ambassador to Beirut in April over comments alleging that plans to disarm Hezbollah were a "conspiracy".

Last year, then-Prime Minister Najib Mikati also issued a rare rebuke of Iran for "interfering" in internal Lebanese affairs.

In February, Iran blocked Lebanese planes from repatriating dozens of Lebanese nationals stranded in Tehran after Lebanon said it would not allow Iranian aircraft to land in Beirut because of Israel's threats that it would bomb the planes.