Israeli troops have engaged in intense battles with Hezbollah—the militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon—on November 22 in various parts of southern Lebanon, including a town where the United Nations peacekeeping forces have their headquarters.
A spokesperson for the UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, told the Associated Press that they are monitoring “intense fighting” in the coastal town of Naqoura and the village of Chamaa, to the northeast.
The UNIFIL headquarters is located in Naqoura, in the southernmost part of Lebanon, near the border with Israel. “We are aware of heavy shelling near our bases,” said UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti. When asked whether peacekeepers and the headquarters staff were safe, Tenenti replied, “Yes, for the moment.”Several UNIFIL posts have been hit since Israel launched a ground offensive in Lebanon on November 1, wounding some peacekeepers.
The intense fighting comes a day after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The ICC also issued arrest warrants for a military leader of Hamas—the Palestinian group designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union—accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the war in Gaza that began in October 2023.
The war in Gaza started after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing nearly 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 250 others hostage. Nearly 100 hostages are still in Gaza, with at least one-third believed to have died.Israel has also carried out airstrikes in Lebanon after Hezbollah launched rocket attacks a day after the war in Gaza began. In September, fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalated further.
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