Israel’s military said that one of its tanks entered a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) post while trying to evacuate injured soldiers today.
Earlier, UNIFIL said its peacekeepers in Ramyah, southern Lebanon, were in shelters when two Israeli tanks “forcibly entered” their position, requesting that the base “turn out its lights”.
The tanks left after 45 minutes but, just over two hours later, UNIFIL said several rounds were fired, emitting smoke near the base and causing 15 peacekeepers to suffer from skin irritation.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it faced a “large barrage” of anti-tank missiles in southern Lebanon today, in which two of its soldiers were severely injured.
“An initial review showed that an IDF tank that was trying to evacuate injured soldiers while still under fire backed several meters into a UNIFIL post,” it added.
“Once the enemy fire stopped, and following the evacuation of the injured soldiers, the tank left the post.”
It said a smoke screen was used to provide cover for the evacuation of the soldiers and that “throughout the entirety of the incident, no danger was posed to UNIFIL forces by the IDF activity”.
Multiple injuries reported after drone attack on northern Israel
Israeli media is reporting that 40 people have been injured following a drone attack in the north of the country.
The strike hit the town of Binyamina, which sits between Haifa and Tel Aviv on Israel’s coastline.
Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it launched a “squadron of attack drones” on an Israeli military training camp in Binyamina.
We’ll bring you more updates as we get them.
Binyamina attack could be Hezbollah’s biggest on Israel over last year
We’ve been reporting today on a drone attack launched by Hezbollah on the northern Israeli town of Binyamina.
Israeli media is reporting that 67 people have been injured, with four people critically wounded.
According to our Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall, the attack could be Hezbollah’s biggest on Israel over the last year.
“There is not a lot of information, which tends to imply that there is more to come out,” says Bunkall.
“It’s been put down to a Hezbollah drone that perhaps wasn’t detected by Israel’s defence system, so it wasn’t shot down.
“Assuming those numbers are correct, 67 injured, I’m pretty sure that would make it the biggest drone attack or even the biggest attack by Hezbollah on Israel over the last year.”
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