MONITORING (SW) – The Israeli army has threatened to hit ambulances in southern Lebanon, claiming they are being misused by Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, and also ordered more villages to evacuate.
The warning came after Israeli forces hit positions of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), injuring peacekeepers, reported Al Jazeera.
Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee on Saturday alleged that “Hezbollah elements are using ambulances to transport fighters and arms.” He did not provide any proof of his accusation.
“We call on medical teams to avoid contact with Hezbollah members and not to cooperate with them,” he said. The Israeli military “affirms that the necessary actions will be taken against any vehicle transporting armed individuals, regardless of its type”.
The Israeli military also ordered residents of 23 southern Lebanese villages to evacuate to areas north of the Awali River, according to a statement released on Saturday.
After it was reported that two UN peacekeepers were wounded by an Israeli attack near their watchtower in south Lebanon on Friday, UNIFIL said on Saturday that another peacekeeper was hit by gunfire on Friday, although it said it did not know who was responsible for that attack.
About 10,000 peacekeepers from 50 countries are stationed in Lebanon, alongside around 800 civilian staff.
Since 1978, they have patrolled the area between the Litani River and the UN-recognized boundary between Lebanon and Israel, known as the “Blue Line”.
Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel on 8 October last year, the day after Hamas’s deadly attack on southern Israel. The Iran-backed group says it is acting in solidarity with the Palestinians and has said it will stop firing if there is a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Over the past three weeks, Israel has dramatically escalated its campaign against Hezbollah, intensifying air strikes against southern Lebanon and southern parts of Beirut, assassinating Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah and launching a ground invasion.
Lebanon says more than 2,000 people have been killed, mainly in the recent escalation, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced. This week Hezbollah rocket fire has killed two Israeli civilians and a Thai national, Israeli authorities say.
