Israeli tank fire killed Indonesian peacekeeper in Lebanon, UNIFIL finds
UNIFIL concludes that a 120mm projectile fired from an Israeli Merkava tank struck a UN position in southern Lebanon, killing one peacekeeper and critically injuring another.
A projectile that killed a UN peacekeeper in Lebanon last month was fired by an Israeli military tank, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has said, concluding its investigation into the deadly incident.
Based on analysis of the impact site and fragments recovered at the position, UNIFIL said on Tuesday the round was a 120mm tank main armament projectile fired by an Israeli Merkava tank from the east, in the direction of Ett Taibe.
UNIFIL noted that it had provided the Israeli military with the coordinates of all its positions and facilities March 6 and again March 22, weeks before the incident, in an effort to reduce risk to its personnel.
The peacekeeper was killed on the night of March 29 when a projectile struck a UNIFIL position near Adchit Al Qusayr.
A second peacekeeper was critically injured in the strike. At the time, UNIFIL said the origin of the projectile was unknown and launched an investigation.
In its initial statement, UNIFIL said deliberate attacks on peacekeepers constituted grave violations of international humanitarian law and UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended the 2006 Lebanon War, and could amount to war crimes.