Four Italian soldiers injured in Hezbollah strikes on UNIFIL base

Four Italian soldiers were injured on Friday at the UN peacekeeping mission headquarters in Lebanon after the base was hit by rockets allegedly fired by the militant group Hezbollah or its affiliated groups.

The Italian soldiers were slightly injured when two exploding 122mm rockets hit the U.N. mission base in Shama in southern Lebanon, Italy’s Defense Ministry said.

According to initial reports, the rockets hit parts of the UNIFIL premises and where blue helmets had taken refuge after alert level 3 had been triggered.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni described the attack as ‘unacceptable’ and expressed sympathy for the officers and their families.

“Such attacks are unacceptable, and I renew my call for the parties on the ground to ensure, at all times, the safety of Unifil soldiers and to work together to quickly identify those responsible,” she said.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani echoed Meloni’s words. “Just as we told Israel to pay the utmost attention, so we tell Hezbollah just as firmly that the Italian military cannot be touched,” said Tajani.

Earlier on Friday, a spokesman for the mission known as UNIFIL, Andrea Tenenti, said UNIFIL was monitoring “heavy clashes” between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters in different areas in south Lebanon, including the coastal town of Naqoura and the village of Chamaa to the northeast.

Several UNIFIL posts have been hit since Israel began its ground invasion of Lebanon on 1 October, leaving some peacekeepers wounded.

The latest comes a day after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defence minister, and a Hamas military leader. The ICC accused them of war crimes and crimes against humanity over their 13-month war in Gaza and the October 2023 attack on Israel.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war broke out.

Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants without providing any evidence.

Israel launched airstrikes against Lebanon after Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones, and missiles into Israel the day after Hamas’ attack last year.

After almost a year of low-level combat, a full-scale war broke out in September