The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon UNIFIL said Israeli tank fire on its headquarters in the country's south on Thursday wounded two of its members.

"This morning, two peacekeepers were injured after an IDF Merkava tank fired its weapon toward an observation tower at UNIFIL's headquarters in Naqura, directly hitting it and causing them to fall," the force said, using an acronym for the Israeli military.

"The injuries are fortunately, this time, not serious, but they remain in hospital," it said, adding that "UNIFIL's Naqura headquarters and nearby positions have been repeatedly hit".

A spokesperson for the Armed Forces of Malta said none of the Maltese soldiers stationed on the Lebanese border were injured. 

"The incident that has been reported was not in the vicinity where the Maltese personnel are based," the spokesperson said.

There are currently seven Maltese soldiers stationed close to the Israeli border who voluntarily signed up for a six-month peacekeeping mission.

Meanwhile, according to UNIFIL, the Israeli military also hit another position in Ras Naqura on Thursday.

The peacekeeping force said it hit "the entrance to the bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering, and damaging vehicles and a communications system".

"An IDF drone was observed flying inside the UN position up to the bunker entrance," it said.

UNIFIL, which has some 10,000 peacekeepers stationed in south Lebanon, has called for a ceasefire since an escalation between Israel and Hezbollah on September 23.

On Wednesday, "IDF soldiers deliberately fired at and disabled the position's perimeter-monitoring cameras," it added.

"They also deliberately fired on (a site) where regular tripartite meetings were held before the conflict began, damaging lighting and a relay station."

"We remind the IDF and all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN premises at all times," it said.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.