United Nations (UN) peacekeepers in southern Lebanon have reported the sharpest escalation in military activity between Israel and Hezbollah since late June, when a U.S.-Israel-Lebanon framework agreement was signed, a UN spokesman said Thursday.
Speaking during a press briefing from UN headquarters in New York City, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, detailed a significant surge in artillery fire, airspace violations, and airstrikes conducted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
"The UN Interim Force in Lebanon has observed the sharpest escalation in military activity since the announcement of the Trilateral Framework in late June. Yesterday, peacekeepers recorded 113 projectiles fired by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the highest daily figure observed since the 21st of June. UNIFIL did not detect any projectile launches by Hezbollah during the same period. This escalation has continued today. Between midnight and 16:00 local time, UNIFIL recorded 120 projectiles fired by the IDF, already exceeding yesterday's full-day figure and marking the highest number observed in a single day since the 21st of June. UNIFIL also recorded significant air activity. Yesterday, peacekeepers recorded 49 airspace violations, with a cumulative overflight time exceeding 131 hours, the highest level since the 23rd of June," said Haq.
"They also observed three airstrikes northwest of Al Mansuri, [or Mansouri, in southern Lebanon] in Sector West, including two strikes that impacted north-east of a UNIFIL position in the area. Between midnight and 16:00 today, peacekeepers recorded a further 29 airspace violations and at least three confirmed airstrikes in the vicinity of Al Mansuri. At sea, on Monday, UNIFIL observed IDF patrol boats crossing the Line of Buoys into Lebanese territorial waters before returning south," added Farhan Haq.
According to Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) on Thursday, the latest escalation came a day after one person was killed and 11 others injured in an Israeli airstrike on the southern town of Tebnine.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military said it had begun carrying out "precise" strikes in southern Lebanon in response to what it described as a "blatant violation" of the ceasefire by Hezbollah. Shortly before launching the strikes, the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for Mansouri.
The developments came after Israeli and Lebanese officials began three days of negotiations in Rome on Tuesday aimed at advancing security arrangements along their border and implementing a framework agreement reached in Washington in late June. The talks, opposed by Hezbollah, are the seventh round of negotiations between the two governments.
UN peacekeepers report sharpest military escalation in southern Lebanon since late June
