The United Nations force in Lebanon said a blast at one of its positions wounded three peacekeepers on Friday, the third such incident in a week, as more Israeli strikes hit south Beirut.
The US embassy in Lebanon, where the Tehran-backed Hezbollah militant group is at war with Israel, warned that Iran and allied groups could seek to target universities in the country.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel to avenge the US-Israeli attack that killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Israel has responded with massive strikes across Lebanon as well as a ground operation in the country’s south. Lebanese authorities have reported 1,368 dead in a month of hostilities.
“This afternoon, an explosion inside a UN position… injured three peacekeepers, two seriously. They are all currently being evacuated to hospital. We do not yet know the origin of the explosion,” UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel said.
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon is deployed in the country’s south near the border.
Israel’s military carried out fresh strikes on south Beirut, saying it was striking “terror infrastructure” after issuing an evacuation order for the area, a Hezbollah stronghold that has largely emptied of residents amid repeated raids and evacuation warnings.
An AFP correspondent heard explosions as the state-run National News Agency reported raids on the area.
– ‘Against the war’ –
On the edge of the southern suburbs, Christians marked Good Friday in the Shiyeh neighbourhood with a procession around the Saint Maroun Church, some holding flaming torches or singing religious chants.
Resident Hala Farah, 62, said she had never before missed the religious rites, even during repeated conflicts in the country.
“We’re always here, we have to hold on for the future of our children,” she told AFP at the entrance to the overflowing church.
Another worshipper, Patricia Haddad, 32, said she said she was not afraid of the nearby bombardment anymore.
“We got used to it, unfortunately,” she said, adding: “We are against the war.”
The US embassy said that “Iran and its aligned terrorist militias may intend to target universities in Lebanon”, without identifying any specific institutions.
The warning came days after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard threatened to target US universities in the Middle East after saying US-Israeli strikes had destroyed two Iranian universities.
Among other facilities, Lebanon is home to the American University of Beirut, one of the most prominent US institutions in the region, whose campus and hospital are in the heart of the capital.
Also Friday, the Israeli military said it planned to strike two bridges in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa region “to prevent the transfer of reinforcements and military equipment”.
– Houses ‘destroyed’ –
Israel has already struck several bridges over the Litani River, which runs around 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border, an area where Israel wants to maintain “security control”.
The NNA also reported strikes in south Lebanon, saying Israeli forces had “destroyed what remained of houses” in several frontier towns that were largely destroyed during the previous Israel-Hezbollah war that ended in 2024.
Israel’s army said it had struck more than 3,500 targets across Lebanon since last month, while Hezbollah said it had carried out 1,309 operations against Israeli targets.
On Sunday, an Indonesian peacekeeper was killed when a projectile exploded in a UNIFIL position, while another blast the following day killed two more Indonesian troops.
A UN security source had told AFP that Israeli fire was behind Sunday’s attack, while a mine may have caused the second blast, for which Israel’s military denied responsibility.
According to the UN, 97 force members have been killed in violence since UNIFIL was first established to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon in 1978.
The force’s mandate finishes at the end of this year.
