Israeli Forces Fire at UNIFIL Positions in South Lebanon

Armored vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are pictured during a patrol around Marjayoun in south Lebanon on October 8, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Armored vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are pictured during a patrol around Marjayoun in south Lebanon on October 8, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Israeli Forces Fire at UNIFIL Positions in South Lebanon

Armored vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are pictured during a patrol around Marjayoun in south Lebanon on October 8, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Armored vehicles of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are pictured during a patrol around Marjayoun in south Lebanon on October 8, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Israeli forces fired on two positions used by UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon on Thursday and at another one on Wednesday, the UN force said, as Israel pressed its assault on Hezbollah and told Lebanese civilians not to return to homes in the south.

The UNIFIL force said two of its peacekeepers were injured in one of the incidents, when an Israeli tank fired at an observation tower at the force's main headquarters in Naqoura, hitting the tower and causing them to fall.

There were no casualties in the other two incidents, a UN source said.

"Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law," UNIFIL said in a statement, adding that it was following up with the Israeli military.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which is waging a widening offensive in Lebanon against Hezbollah.

Israel says its Lebanon offensive aims to secure the return home of tens of thousands of Israelis who evacuated northern Israel due to cross-border rockets launched by Hezbollah, which opened fire a year ago to support Hamas in Gaza.

UNIFIL said Israeli soldiers had also fired at a UN position in Ras Naqoura "hitting the entrance to the bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering, and damaging vehicles and a communications system.”

"An IDF drone was observed flying inside the UN position up to the bunker entrance," UNIFIL said. The previous day, Israeli forces had "fired at and disabled the position’s perimeter-monitoring cameras,” it added. They also deliberately fired at and damaged another position, it said.



Iraqi PM Rejects Foreign Calls to Dismantle PMF

Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani receives Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and his accompanying delegation in Baghdad on Saturday. (Iraqi prime minister’s office)
Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani receives Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and his accompanying delegation in Baghdad on Saturday. (Iraqi prime minister’s office)
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Iraqi PM Rejects Foreign Calls to Dismantle PMF

Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani receives Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and his accompanying delegation in Baghdad on Saturday. (Iraqi prime minister’s office)
Iraqi PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani receives Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and his accompanying delegation in Baghdad on Saturday. (Iraqi prime minister’s office)

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani stressed his rejection of “foreign dictates or pressure” calling for the dismantling of the pro-Iran Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).

Speaking to state television, he said the PMF was turned into a state institution according to a 2014 law that was ratified by parliament.

“It is unacceptable to make demands and impose conditions on Iraq, especially when it comes to dismantling the PMF,” he declared.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had stirred controversy during a meeting with Sudani earlier this month when he called for dismantling the PMF and other armed factions.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi security and defense committee urged the recruitment of more soldiers to the army as Baghdad warily eyes the developments in Syria in wake of the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Iraq is bracing for a possible fallout from the ouster on its own country, especially with the possibility of the reemergence of the ISIS terrorist group.

The Defense Ministry is in need of 25,000 to 30,000 recruits, said the security and defense committee, noting that no new members have been recruited since 2017.

Sudani said his government was assessing the situation in neighboring Syria and will take the necessary measures as developments unfold there.

He stressed the need to help the Syrian people run their country’s affairs without any foreign meddling or infringement on Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.