On 16 November, peacekeepers from the UNIFIL mission operating in southern Lebanon were targeted by Israel with heavy machine-gun fire from a Merkava tank positioned in the area. The rounds landed about five metres from the positions occupied by the blue helmets, forcing the peacekeepers to take cover. None of the mission personnel were injured.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) described the event as an accident caused by poor weather conditions; according to their version, the United Nations soldiers, who were on patrol, were mistaken for suspicious individuals. UNIFIL, on the other hand, called the episode a serious violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 of 2006, which ended the war with Hezbollah and established that no armed forces from any of the previously involved parties may operate in southern Lebanon, with the sole exceptions of UN peacekeeping forces and the Lebanese army.
This is the third incident of its kind in the past three months. On 2 September, IDF drones had dropped grenades near peacekeepers who were removing road barricades along the Blue Line, the buffer zone between Israel and Lebanon where all military activity is prohibited. On 26 October, UNIFIL reported that a grenade had been launched, followed by tank gunfire from an Israeli tank directed at United Nations personnel.
