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Rocket Launched Near Peacekeeper Post in Lebanon on Sunday, UN Says

Vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol near the Lebanon-Israel border, at Marjeyoun area in southern Lebanon, 27 August 2024. (EPA)
Vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol near the Lebanon-Israel border, at Marjeyoun area in southern Lebanon, 27 August 2024. (EPA)
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Rocket Launched Near Peacekeeper Post in Lebanon on Sunday, UN Says

Vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol near the Lebanon-Israel border, at Marjeyoun area in southern Lebanon, 27 August 2024. (EPA)
Vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol near the Lebanon-Israel border, at Marjeyoun area in southern Lebanon, 27 August 2024. (EPA)

One of the rockets launched from Lebanon in the heavy exchange between armed group Hezbollah and the Israeli military on Sunday was fired from near a position operated by international peacekeepers, the United Nations force told Reuters on Tuesday.

The UN peacekeeping force for Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said it had detected a "high number of air strikes and rocket launches in its area of operations" starting on Sunday morning.

"One such launch was detected from near one of our positions in Hanniyeh," UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel said, referring to a town in southern Lebanon approximately 10 km (6 miles) north of the border with Israel.

The spokesperson said another explosion occurred later in the day near a UNIFIL position in Mays al-Jabal, along the border, but said there was no damage and no casualties.

"We continually stress to everyone that using areas near our positions to launch attacks across the Blue Line or targeting that puts peacekeepers in danger is unacceptable and a violation of Resolution 1701," the spokesperson said.

The Blue Line is the demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel, where parts of the international border are disputed.

UN resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, tasks UNIFIL with ensuring that its area of operations "is not utilized for hostile activities of any kind".

A spokesperson for the Israeli military said on Monday that it had identified Hezbollah rocket launch sites approximately 150 meters (490 feet) away from a UN position in Hanniyeh, without specifically naming UNIFIL.

There was no immediate response from Hezbollah to a Reuters request for comment.

Hezbollah on Sunday fired rockets and drones at Israeli military sites in retaliation for the killing of a top commander by Israel last month, and Israeli jets targeted approximately 40 launch sites in Lebanon.

It was one of the most intense exchanges of fire between the armed foes in more than 10 months of hostilities playing out in parallel with the Gaza war.

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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

Cyprus stands ready to help eliminate Syria’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and to support a search for people whose fate remains unknown after more than a decade of war, the top Cypriot diplomat said Saturday.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Cyprus’ offer is grounded on its own past experience both with helping rid Syria of chemical weapons 11 years ago and its own ongoing, decades-old search for hundreds of people who disappeared amid fighting between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s and a 1974 Turkish invasion, The AP reported.

Cyprus in 2013 hosted the support base of a mission jointly run by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to remove and dispose of Syria's chemical weapons.

“As a neighboring country located just 65 miles from Syria, Cyprus has a vested interest in Syria’s future. Developments there will directly impact Cyprus, particularly in terms of potential new migratory flows and the risks of terrorism and extremism,” Kombos told The AP in written replies to questions.

Kombos said there are “profound concerns” among his counterparts across the region over Syria’s future security, especially regarding a possible resurgence of extremist groups like ISIS in a fragmented and polarized society.

“This is particularly critical in light of potential social and demographic engineering disguised as “security” arrangements, which could further destabilize the country,” Kombos said.

The diplomat also pointed to the recent proliferation of narcotics production like the stimulant Captagon that is interconnected with smuggling networks involved in people and arms trafficking.

Kombos said ongoing attacks against Syria’s Kurds must stop immediately, given the role that Kurdish forces have played in combating extremist forces like the ISIS group in the past decade.

Saleh Muslim, a member of the Kurdish Presidential Council, said in an interview that the Kurds primarily seek “equality” enshrined in rights accorded to all in any democracy.

He said a future form of governance could accord autonomy to the Kurds under some kind of federal structure.

“But the important thing is to have democratic rights for all the Syrians and including the Kurdish people,” he said.

Muslim warned that the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, near Syria’s border with Türkiye, is in “very big danger” of falling into the hands of Turkish-backed forces, and accused Türkiye of trying to occupy it.

Kombos said the international community needs to ensure that the influence Türkiye is trying to exert in Syria is “not going to create an even worse situation than there already is.”

“Whatever the future landscape in Syria, it will have a direct and far-reaching impact on the region, the European Union and the broader international community,” Kombos said.