TWO United Nations peacekeepers were shot and injured by Israeli forces today.

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) reported there had been two attacks. One when “an Israeli Merkava tank fired its weapon towards an observation tower at Unifil’s headquarters in Naqqoura.” Two peacekeepers were not seriously hurt but remain in hospital.

The second attack took place when Israeli soldiers “fired on UN positions in Labbouneh, hitting the entrance to the bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering.”

Unifil said there was damage to vehicles and a communications system.

“An IDF drone was observed flying inside the UN position up to the bunker entrance,” a spokesperson added.

The incidents followed an IDF attack on a Unifil position on Wednesday in Ras Naqoura.

The peacekeepers have refused to abandon their mission in south Lebanon despite being told to leave by the Israelis.

Unifil said: “Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international law and security council resolution 1701.”

The Israeli government has made no immediate comment on the attacks.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant did however issue a chilling warning to Iran on Wednesday regarding his country’s threatened retaliation for a recent Iranian missile attack. 

“Our strike will be lethal, precise and above all, surprising,” he said in a speech to troops. “They won’t understand what happened and how. They will see the results. Whoever strikes us will be harmed and pay a price.”

The warning came as the Israeli military pushed ahead with its ground invasion of Lebanon.

In recent weeks Israel has waged a heavy air campaign across large parts of country, targeting what it says are Hezbollah rocket launchers and other militant sites. A series of strikes had killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and most of his top commanders.

On Wednesday, Hezbollah claimed a rocket attack that killed two people in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona. The town’s acting mayor, Ofir Yehezkeli, said the two killed were a couple walking their dogs.

A day earlier Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Lebanon would meet the same fate as Gaza if its people did not rise up against Hezbollah.

Separately, Mr Netanyahu held his first call in seven weeks with United States President Joe Biden today.

The White House said the call included discussions on over how Israel would respond to Iran’s attack.

Iran fired dozens of missiles at Israel on October 1 which the United States helped fend off. Mr Biden has said he would not support a retaliatory strike on sites related to Tehran’s nuclear programme.