Middle East: Israeli strikes on central Beirut kills 22

United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanonsay they are determined to remain at their posts despite attacks by the Israeli military. 

The UN's peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said in a statement that an Israeli tank  opened fire on its watchtower at its headquarters in the town of Naqoura on Thursday.

"This is probably one of the most serious events or incidents that we've witnessed in the last 12 months," said Andrea Tenenti, UNIFIL’s spokesman, adding that:

"We are there because the [UN] Security Council has asked us to be there, so we are staying until the situation becomes impossible for us to operate."

Two peacekeepers from Indonesia were injured, while the attack also damaged vehicles and a communications system.

In a statement, UNIFIL also claimed that Israeli troops "deliberately fired at and disabled" cameras monitoring the area.

The mission consists of more than 10,000 peacekeepers from 50 countries deployed between the Litani River in the north and the internationally-recognized border between Lebanon and Israel in the south, known as the Blue Line.

UNIFIL's main task is to assist the Lebanese army in keeping the country's south free of weapons and armed personnel not belonging to the Lebanese state. But the area is effectively controlled by Hezbollah.

Although thousands of people have left the region, many civilians remain caught up in the fighting and Tenenti said the force still had crucial work to do "assisting local NGOs and also UN agencies to bring much-needed food and water to these villages."

The death toll from Israeli airstrikes on central Beirut on Thursday has risen to at least 22, Lebanon's Health Ministry said, with more than one hundred others injured.

According to the Associated Press, the airstrikes – the deadliest to hit the Lebanese capital so far – targeted two residential buildings in separate neighborhoods. One of them collapsed after the attack, while the other had its lower floors destroyed.

Hezbollah's Al Manar TV claimed that Wafiq Safa, who heads the group's coordination unit working with Lebanon’s security services, was the likely target. It added that Safa was in neither of the buildings.

A security source told Reuters news agency that a family of eight, including three children, who had evacuated from the south, were among the dead.

The Israeli military, which generally targets neighborhoods in the Hezbollah strongholds of southern Beirut, said it was looking into the strikes on the densely populated central parts of the city.

mf/lo (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)