Hezbollah hits UN post
2006-07-21 10:14
Jerusalem - A barrage of Hezbollah-fired rockets aimed at northern Israel fell short of their targets and struck a United Nations observation post near Zarit, the Israeli army said on Friday.
An army spokesperson said it wasn't immediately clear if the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon post was occupied at the time of the incident or anyone was injured.
A call seeking comment from UNIFIL was not immediately returned.
The mission of the force, currently at almost 2 000 military personnel and more than 300 civilians, is to patrol the border line, known as the Blue Line, drawn by the United Nations after Israel withdrew its troops from south Lebanon in 2000, ending an 18-year occupation.
Since its deployment in 1978 after an Israeli invasion, Palestinian fighters and later Lebanon's Hezbollah have ignored it.
Israel invaded southern Lebanon and swept through to Beirut to occupy it, slicing unhindered through the peacekeepers' lines.
The force is made up of more than 1 990 troops from China, France, Ghana, Ireland, India, Italy, Poland and Ukraine.
- AP