UNIFIL says Israeli military forced entry at base in southern Lebanon

UNIFIL says two Israeli tanks ‘destroyed the position’s main gate and forcibly entered the position’.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon says Israeli tanks have forced entry at one of its positions, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the UN to evacuate its troops from the area.

The incident is the latest in a series of violations and attacks by Israeli forces on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in recent days and comes as Israel expands its bombardment and ground attacks on Lebanon.

UNIFIL said in a statement on Sunday that two Israeli tanks “destroyed the position’s main gate and forcibly entered the position”.

Soon after the tanks left, shells exploded 100 metres (328 feet) away, releasing smoke that blew across the base and sickened UN personnel, causing 15 to require treatment despite wearing gas masks, UNIFIL said. It did not say who fired the shells or what sort of toxic substance it suspected.

In its account of events, the Israeli military said fighters from the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah had fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli troops, wounding 25 of them. The attack was very close to a UNIFIL post and a tank that was helping evacuate the casualties under fire then backed into the UNIFIL post.