The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon reported that the Israeli military fired on its observers from an IDF post inside southern Lebanon Sunday morning, with the military later saying the incident was a result of “misidentification” and that soldiers did not deliberately fire on UN troops.

According to UNIFIL, machine gun rounds fired from an IDF tank “hit approximately five meters from the peacekeepers, who were on foot and had to take shelter in the terrain.”

“Peacekeepers asked for the IDF to stop firing through UNIFIL’s liaison channels. They were able to leave safely thirty minutes later, when the Merkava tank withdrew inside the IDF position,” the observer force said, adding that nobody was injured in the incident.

Responding to the report, the IDF said it misidentified UNIFIL troops due to weather conditions, and it had no intention of firing on the observers.

The IDF said that it spotted two suspects in southern Lebanon, just north of Metula, and fired “warning shots” to disperse them.

“After a review, it was determined that the suspects were UN soldiers who were conducting a patrol in the area and were classified as suspects due to poor weather conditions,” the military said, adding that the incident is under further examination.

“The IDF emphasizes that no deliberate fire was directed toward UNIFIL soldiers, and the matter is being handled through official military liaison channels,” the military added.

In recent weeks, UNIFIL........

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