Extract from ABC News
UN peacekeepers patrol the Lebanese side of the Lebanese-Israeli border in 2023. (AP: Hassan Ammar)
In short:
UNIFIL says two of its troops have been injured in explosions near an observation tower in southern Lebanon, the result of continued Israeli fire at their position.
Later on Friday, two drones launched from Lebanon sounded sirens in central Israel. One was successfully intercepted and the other struck a building in Tel Aviv.
What's next?
Iran's UN representative has told the Security Council the Islamic republic is "fully prepared" to defend itself against any Israeli attack.
UNIFIL, the United Nations' peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, said on Friday that two of its peacekeepers had been injured in explosions near an observation tower, the result of continued Israeli fire at their position.
Both injured peacekeepers were receiving treatment, UNIFIL said.
In the statement posted to X, the organisation also said an IDF bulldozer knocked over barriers at a UN position near the Blue Line in Labbouneh, and IDF tanks had moved closer to the position.
"This is a serious development, and UNIFIL reiterates that the safety and security of UN personnel and property must be guaranteed and that the inviolability of UN premises must be respected at all times," the peacekeeping force said, echoing a statement made the previous day concerning two other injuries.
On Thursday, two peacekeepers were injured in IDF tank fire on the "Blue Line", the unofficial demarcation line separating Israel from Lebanon.
IDF soldiers also reportedly fired on the bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering and damaged the shelter's cameras.
"Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law," the statement concluded.
The IDF responded to Friday's statement by confirming on X that it had carried out an operation near the UN peacekeepers' base, but it claimed Hezbollah targets also resided there.
The UK government responded by urging all parties to "comply with international law".
"We were appalled to hear those reports and it is vital that peacekeepers and civilians are protected," a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged his counterpart in Israel to ensure the safety of UNIFIL forces in Lebanon.
Drones cross over into Israel from Lebanon
The Israeli military on Friday said sirens sounded in several areas in central Israel due to a hostile aircraft "infiltration", adding that no casualties had been reported.
It said two aerial drones entered the country from Lebanon — one successfully intercepted and the other causing damage to at least one building north of Tel Aviv.
The IDF said both drones were "monitored from the moment when they crossed the Lebanese border".
"Following the sirens activated earlier in central Israel, two UAVs were identified crossing from Lebanese territory. The aircrafts were monitored the moment they crossed the border," it said in a statement.
There was no immediate comment from the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah on the drone attack.
The incident came on Yom Kippur, a solemn religious holiday observed by Jews.
Thousands trapped in Gaza's largest refugee camp, 20 killed in home strike
At least 20 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack at a home in Jabalia, Gaza's northern district home to the largest of its historic refugee camps.
Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) said thousands of people were trapped in the camp as Israeli forces attacked the area on Friday.
Local medics told Reuters the strikes also damaged four nearby homes and that the death toll was likely to rise.
Palestinians walk past destroyed houses in Jabalia refugee camp in February. (Reuters: Mahmoud Issa)
They added that Israeli military strikes killed at least 61 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Friday, with nearly half from Jabalia.
"Nobody is allowed to get in or out; anyone who tries is getting shot," MSF project coordinator Sarah Vuylsteke said on X.
Five MSF staff were trapped in Jabalia, she said.
"I don't know what to do; at any moment we could die. People are starving. I am afraid to stay, and I am also afraid to leave," she quoted Haydar, an MSF driver, as saying.
The IDF said it had killed dozens of militants in Jabalia, though it was unclear how many of the dead were civilians rather than fighters. It did not comment on reports an Israeli quadcopter drone had fired at a school sheltering displaced people, killing and injuring dozens.
Israel has ramped up attacks in the past week, launching an offensive it says is aimed at stopping Hamas regrouping.
UN, WHO 'concerned' over Gaza evacuation orders
United Nations officials voiced concerns on Friday that an Israeli offensive as well as evacuation orders in northern Gaza might affect the second phase of a polio vaccination campaign set to start next week.
Aid groups carried out an initial round of vaccinations last month after a baby was partially paralysed by the type 2 polio virus in August, the first such case in the territory in 25 years.
The Israeli military has been pursuing an offensive in northern Gaza. (Reuters: Amir Cohen)
In Gaza's north, the Israeli military has been pursuing an offensive in Jabalia — the largest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps — and the nearby towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya.
"I am, of course, concerned about the developments in the north, and specifically with these evacuation orders," the WHO's representative in occupied Palestinian territory, Rik Peeperkorn, told reporters in Geneva.
Dozens of healthcare facilities across Gaza are under such orders by the IDF.
UNICEF special representative Jean Gough also voiced concerns, and described conditions as "more complicated" than those in which the first phase of the vaccination campaign took place last month.
People attempt to leave the Jabalia camp after Israeli air strikes hit the area in Gaza. (AFP: Abood Abusalama)
At the same briefing, Mr Peeperkorn said three attempts by the UN health agency and its partners to assist and evacuate patients from northern Gaza hospitals under evacuation orders have been thwarted this week.
"It's kind of unacceptable that we still struggle with what … should be routine humanitarian missions by now," he said.
Fresh attempts will be made to reach them in the coming days, he added.
Iran 'fully prepared' to defend against Israeli attack, representative tells UN
Iran says it is "fully prepared to defend its sovereignty" if Israel attacks it in response to a barrage of about 200 missiles the Islamic republic fired towards Israel on October 1.
Those missiles were launched in retaliation for the killing of two of Iran's closest allies, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, along with an Iranian general, by Israel.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant vowed this week that his country's response to the Iranian barrage would be "deadly, precise and surprising".
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has vowed that Israel would respond to Iran's missile barrage. (AP: Susan Walsh)
In an address to the UN Security Council on Thursday, Iran's permanent representative to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, said his country "stands fully prepared to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity against any aggression targeting its vital interests and security".
Iran, he said, was not seeking "war or escalation", but would exercise its "inherent right to self-defence fully in line with international law and will notify the Security Council of its legitimate response".
"Lebanon stands on the brink of a humanitarian collapse, and the international community must not allow this catastrophe to worsen," he said.
Also on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with Al Jazeera Arabic that "we do not want a war", but "we are not afraid of it, and we will be ready for any scenario".
ABC/Wires
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