UNIFIL, the United Nations' peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, said on Friday that two of its peacekeepers had been injured in explosions near an observation tower, the result of continued Israeli fire at their position.
Both injured peacekeepers were receiving treatment, UNIFIL said.
In the statement posted to X, the organisation also said an IDF bulldozer knocked over barriers at a UN position near the Blue Line in Labbouneh, and IDF tanks had moved closer to the position.
"This is a serious development, and UNIFIL reiterates that the safety and security of UN personnel and property must be guaranteed and that the inviolability of UN premises must be respected at all times," the peacekeeping force said, echoing a statement made the previous day concerning two other injuries.
On Thursday, two peacekeepers were injured in IDF tank fire on the "Blue Line", the unofficial demarcation line separating Israel from Lebanon.
IDF soldiers also reportedly fired on the bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering and damaged the shelter's cameras.
"Any deliberate attack on peacekeepers is a grave violation of international humanitarian law," the statement concluded.
The IDF responded to Friday's statement by confirming on X that it had carried out an operation near the UN peacekeepers' base, but it claimed Hezbollah targets also resided there.
The UK government responded by urging all parties to "comply with international law".
"We were appalled to hear those reports and it is vital that peacekeepers and civilians are protected," a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters.
UN, WHO 'concerned' over Gaza evacuation orders
United Nations officials voiced concerns on Friday that an Israeli offensive as well as evacuation orders in northern Gaza might affect the second phase of a polio vaccination campaign set to start next week.
Aid groups carried out an initial round of vaccinations last month after a baby was partially paralysed by the type 2 polio virus in August, the first such case in the territory in 25 years.
In Gaza's north, the Israeli military has been pursuing an offensive in Jabalia — the largest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps — and the nearby towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya.
"I am, of course, concerned about the developments in the north, and specifically with these evacuation orders," the WHO's representative in occupied Palestinian territory, Rik Peeperkorn, told reporters in Geneva.
Dozens of healthcare facilities across Gaza are under such orders by the IDF.
UNICEF special representative Jean Gough also voiced concerns, and described conditions as "more complicated" than those in which the first phase of the vaccination campaign took place last month.
At the same briefing, Mr Peeperkorn said three attempts by the UN health agency and its partners to assist and evacuate patients from northern Gaza hospitals under evacuation orders have been thwarted this week.
"It's kind of unacceptable that we still struggle with what … should be routine humanitarian missions by now," he said.
Fresh attempts will be made to reach them in the coming days, he added.
Iran 'fully prepared' to defend against Israeli attack, representative tells UN
Iran says it is "fully prepared to defend its sovereignty" if Israel attacks it in response to a barrage of about 200 missiles the Islamic republic fired towards Israel on October 1.
Those missiles were launched in retaliation for the killing of two of Iran's closest allies, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, along with an Iranian general, by Israel.
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant vowed this week that his country's response to the Iranian barrage would be "deadly, precise and surprising".
In an address to the UN Security Council on Thursday, Iran's permanent representative to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, said his country "stands fully prepared to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity against any aggression targeting its vital interests and security".
Iran, he said, was not seeking "war or escalation", but would exercise its "inherent right to self-defence fully in line with international law and will notify the Security Council of its legitimate response".
"Lebanon stands on the brink of a humanitarian collapse, and the international community must not allow this catastrophe to worsen," he said.
Also on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with Al Jazeera Arabic that "we do not want a war", but "we are not afraid of it, and we will be ready for any scenario".
ABC/Wires
