22 people were killed when Israeli troops fired at a UN base in Lebanon

Two soldiers were hurt on Friday when two explosions happened near a watchtower in southern Lebanon, according to UNIFIL. Explosions also hit its main base in the area for the second time in 48 hours as Israeli forces fought Hezbollah.

In a statement, UNIFIL called this a “serious development” and said that U.N. staff and property must be kept safe.

Israel and Hezbollah have been at odds for a year now. It all started when the Iranian-backed group started firing rockets at northern Israel in support of Hamas, a violent Palestinian group.

In the past few weeks, it has gotten worse. Israel has been bombing southern Lebanon, the southern suburbs of Beirut, and the Bekaa Valley, killing many of Hezbollah’s top leaders and sending troops into parts of southern Lebanon. On the other hand, Hezbollah has fired more rockets at Israel.

Tens of thousands of people have had to leave northern Israel in the last year because of Hezbollah rocket fire. Israel says its war in Lebanon is meant to make northern Israel safe for them again.

The Lebanese government says that its increased operations have forced more than 1.2 million people to move. They say that more than 2,100 people have died and more than 10,000 have been hurt in fighting in Lebanon that has been going on for more than a year.

“We will not stop fighting the enemy until we are sure that we can safely return the residents, not just now but also in the future,” Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, said in a video released by the military on Friday. Halevi had been in southern Lebanon on Thursday to check on security.

Najib Mikati, as of late Thursday, was acting prime minister of Lebanon. He said that a strike in the middle of Beirut had killed 22 people and hurt 139 more.
Security sources said that the target was Wafiq Safa, a top Hezbollah official, and that he had made it out alive.

A Hezbollah member who went to the attack site on Friday said that there were no top Hezbollah leaders there at the time.