Lebanon’s former prime minister has accused Israel of committing war crimes after several recent attacks on UN peacekeepers.
Two Sri Lankan peacekeepers were injured by explosions near an observation tower at UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) headquarters in Lebanon’s southern town of Naqoura yesterday.
The Israeli military said its soldiers identified a threat and responded with fire, and that the intended target was located 50 metres away.
Israeli tank fire hit the same UNIFIL headquarters on Thursday, injuring two Indonesian peacekeepers.
Another peacekeeper was “hit by gunfire due to ongoing military activity” in the city of Naqoura today, UNIFIL said. It noted that the origin of the fire was unknown.
Israel has since been accused of breaching international humanitarian law by Italy, France, Spain and UNIFIL.
Asked by our chief presenter Mark Austin if Israel’s actions counted as war crimes, Lebanon’s former prime minister Fouad Siniora said they did.
“Very much so, and they are not the only ones. There are plenty of war crimes that have been already committed by Israel,” he added.
Mr Siniora said that Israel had “killed so many civilians” and that their actions in Gaza showed they “did not let any opportunity go without committing these crimes”.
On Hezbollah, Mr Siniora said the group had “hijacked the country” and its actions had pushed Lebanon into war.
He added that Iran’s backing of Hezbollah and its presence in Lebanon was…
