Israeli army cites 'poor weather conditions' as reason for firing at UN peacekeepers

The Israeli army said that its soldiers fired at UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) peacekeepers from a tank in southern Lebanon due to "poor weather conditions", which meant they mistook the observers for "suspects".

Unifil said that Israeli soldiers fired at its observers "from a Merkava tank from near a position Israel has established in Lebanese territory”.

The military said in a statement that “two suspects were identified in the Hammis area in southern Lebanon”, “the forces fired shots to disperse them and the suspects fled, without any casualties”.

“After an investigation, it emerged that the suspects were UN soldiers who were patrolling the area and were classified as suspects due to poor weather conditions. The incident is being investigated," it added.