The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has condemned an explosion that left three UN military observers and a Lebanese interpreter wounded when a shell exploded near them while they were patrolling the southern Lebanese border.
The blast came as clashes between the Israeli military and Hezbollah militants escalated in recent weeks.
Both sides have been exchanging fire since war broke out between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Three UN Truce Supervision Organization (Untso) “military observers and one Lebanese language assistant on a foot patrol along the Blue Line were injured when an explosion occurred near their location”, UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said in a statement on Saturday.
The wounded were “evacuated for medical treatment”, Tenenti added.
Peacekeepers from Unifil patrol the so-called Blue Line, the border demarcated by the UN in 2000 when Israeli troops pulled out of southern Lebanon.
The Untso supports the peacekeeping mission.
Norway’s defence ministry said a Norwegian UN observer was “lightly injured” and had been admitted to hospital.
“The circumstances surrounding the attack are unclear,” defence ministry spokesperson Hanne Olafsen told Norwegian news agency NTB.
Tenenti told AFP that the other two observers were from Australia and Chile, adding that all four wounded were in “stable” condition while Australia’s defence department said the Australian’s injuries were not life-threatening.
Local Lebanese media, citing security officials, said an Israeli drone strike targeted the observers in the southern village of Wadi Katmoun near the border town of Rmeich.
But the Israeli military posted on social media platform X: “Contrary to the reports, the IDF did not strike a @UNIFIL vehicle in the area of Rmeish this morning.”
Tenenti said Unifil had informed all warring parties of their patrols as usual and the observers’ vehicle was carrying clear UN markings. The three military observers were unarmed, he said.