A position of the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon was hit yesterday Saturday, but there were no injuries, the United Nations announced, adding that they are trying to ascertain who opened fire on the peacekeepers.

The peacekeeping force (FINUL in French, UNIFIL in English) is in the process of “verifying” the origin of the fire, however the incident had “no casualties”, although it caused damage to an observation tower of its base, explained its spokesman Andrea Tenendi.

An “Israeli armored Merkava” targeted a FINUL position near the border opposite Metula in northern Israel, according to the Lebanese national news agency NNA.

“We did not target FINUL, we did not hit a FINUL position,” the Israeli army spokeswoman insisted.

On November 25, Israeli fire hit a FINUL vehicle on patrol in the southern part of the country, on the second day of the Israel/Hamas ceasefire. The general headquarters of the peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon had already been hit by shells, according to the UN.

Since the outbreak of the Israel/Hamas war on October 7, Lebanon’s border with Israel has become the scene of increasingly frequent and sustained firefights, mainly between the Israeli military and the Shiite movement Hezbollah, fueling concerns about even more ignition.

More than 120 people have been killed on the Lebanese side since October, most of them Hezbollah fighters, but also more than ten civilians, including journalists, according to an AFP tally.

FINUL was formed in 1978 to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli forces that had invaded Lebanon in retaliation for a Palestinian attack.

It was stepped up after the 2006 Hezbollah/Israel war; its roughly 10,000 peacekeepers are tasked with overseeing the implementation of a ceasefire between the sides.