The number of Lebanese soldiers killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023 is believed to have reached 41 after the latest attack which killed three soldiers in southern Lebanon.
Three Lebanese soldiers were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a military base in the southern Lebanese town of Sarafand, while at least 17 civilians living near the installation were injured, the army said of the country and the Ministry of Public Health.
“The Israeli enemy targeted a military center in the southern town of Sarafand, resulting in the martyrdom of three soldiers,” the Lebanese army said in a social media post on Tuesday.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said 17 people were injured in the strike after earlier reporting that Israeli attacks across the country in the previous 24 hours had killed 28 people and injured 107 – bringing the death toll in Lebanon since the start of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel in October 2023. at 3,544 dead and more than 15,000 injured.
Lebanese army spokesman Fadi Eid told the Associated Press (AP) news agency before the Sarafand attack that 38 soldiers had been killed in Israeli strikes since October last year. The latest three casualties bring the total number of Lebanese army deaths to 41, the AP reported.
استهدف العدو الإسرائيلي مركزًا للجيش في بلدة الصرفند- الجنوب، ما أدى إلى استشهاد ٣ عسكريين.#الجيش_اللبناني #LebaneseArmy pic.twitter.com/QKy5BcCTye
– الجيش اللبناني (@LebarmyOfficial) November 19, 2024
Translation: The Israeli enemy targeted a military center in the southern town of Sarafand, resulting in the martyrdom of three soldiers.
On Sunday, Israeli forces bombed a Lebanese military post in Mari, in the southeastern province of Hasbaiyya, killing two soldiers and seriously injuring three others.
The Israeli military has yet to comment on the latest killing of Lebanese soldiers who for months had been providing security to Lebanese civilians and participating in search and rescue efforts amid fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.
The Lebanese government announced Monday that it plans to lodge a formal complaint with the United Nations Security Council over Israel’s “repeated attacks” on its army, and accused Israeli forces of repeated violations of international law.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Italian Defense Ministry announced that eight rockets had hit the headquarters of the Italian contingent of the UN peacekeeping force, UNIFIL, in Chama, southern Lebanon, and that Ghanaian peacekeepers were injured in a rocket explosion near Ramyah.
“Four serving Ghanaian peacekeepers were injured when a rocket – most likely fired by non-state actors in Lebanon – struck their base” in the village of Ramyah, UNIFIL said in a statement.
Although no injuries were reported, five Italian soldiers are being monitored at medical facilities at the Chama base following the rocket attack, the Italian Defense Ministry said in its statement. Investigations are also underway to determine where the rockets came from and identify those responsible for the attack, which hit some exterior areas and the base’s supply warehouse.
Also on Tuesday, Argentina informed UNIFIL that it would withdraw from the peacekeeping mission in Lebanon.
“Argentina has asked its officers to return (to Argentina),” UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said in response to a question about a newspaper article. He declined to comment on the reason for Argentina’s departure, referring the matter to the Argentine government.
Argentina is one of 48 countries contributing peacekeepers to UNIFIL, with a total of three currently in Lebanon, according to a UN website.
UNIFIL has previously referred to “unacceptable pressures placed on the mission through various channels” as the Israeli military demanded that UN personnel leave their bases and withdraw from southern Lebanon.
More than 20 peacekeepers have been injured in the past two months and several UNIFIL bases have been damaged by Israeli air attacks, which Israel says were unintentional. Israel accuses UNIFIL peacekeeping bases of protecting Hezbollah fighters.
UNIFIL has rejected Israel’s demands to evacuate southern Lebanon for its own safety.
