Finnish leaders have condemned Israeli attacks on UN peacekeeping troops in Lebanon.
All Finnish peacekeepers in southern Lebanon are safe after the latest Israeli attacks on UN targets, Lieutenant Colonel Jukka Honkanen told Yle on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, the Unifil peacekeeping force said that Israel had fired at its bases and positions in southern Lebanon.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) said that he had been briefed about the situation and confirmed that no Finns had been injured.
He said that Finland is closely monitoring the situation, calling it "very serious" and highly reprehensible.
"Let's find out what happened first. The most important thing is that the Finns are fine," the premier said, stressing that the events must be thoroughly investigated.
Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen (NCP) also condemned the attacks. According to Häkkänen, the UN forces have held a dialogue with the Israeli armed forces on the matter.
"Serious objections to this have been raised. This is not an entirely unique situation; this has happened before. However, it does not reduce the reprehensibility of the case," he said.
Two Indonesians hospitalised
Unifil said that that two peacekeepers were slightly injured in the latest shooting and have been hospitalised. The French news agency AFP reports that the two peacekeepers are Indonesian.
Unifil said that its Naqoura headquarters and nearby positions have been repeatedly hit by Israeli fire.
"This morning, two peacekeepers were injured after an IDF Merkava tank fired its weapon toward an observation tower at Unifil’s headquarters in Naqoura, directly hitting it and causing them to fall. The injuries are fortunately, this time, not serious, but they remain in hospital," Unifil said on Thursday.
According to Honkanen, the Finnish peacekeepers based in Naqoura were in a bomb shelter during the incidents.
"Grave violation of international law"
IDF soldiers also fired on an UN position in Labbouneh, hitting the entrance to the bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering, and damaging vehicles and a communications system.
A day earlier, IDF soldiers deliberately fired at and disabled the position’s perimeter-monitoring cameras. They also deliberately fired on a UN position in Ras Naqoura, damaging lighting and a relay station, Unifil said.
"We remind the IDF and all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN premises at all times," it said, adding that "any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and of Security Council resolution 1701. We are following up with the IDF on these matters."
EU partners to meet next week
Unifil is a UN peacekeeping mission created in 1978. It operates under Security Council mandate to monitor hostilities and ensure humanitarian access to civilians. It was expanded following a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and has about 10,500 personnel.
France and Italy have called a videoconference of European countries contributing to Unifil next week following the latest attack. Spain and Ireland also contribute to the peacekeeping operation.