Hezbollah rocket strikes UNIFIL headquarters, injuring 8; social media highlights silence on condemning terror group

Recent WSJ editorial accuses UNIFIL of being ‘Hezbollah’s Best Friend’

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On Tuesday afternoon, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported that its headquarters in Naqoura, southern Lebanon, was hit by a rocket, injuring some of its personnel.

In its initial post, UNIFIL did not specify the rocket’s origin. It later responded, stating that the rocket came from the north, “likely by Hizbullah or an affiliated group.”

The rocket was fired from north of UNIFIL's headquarters, likely by Hizbullah or an affiliated group. We have opened an investigation into the incident.
— UNIFIL (@UNIFIL_) October 29, 2024

The Austrian Ministry of Defense announced that eight Austrian soldiers were superficially wounded in the attack.

“Eight soldiers of the Austrian Armed Forces (UNIFIL) contingent (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) were injured today at 12:58 p.m. by a missile hit in Camp Naqoura; none of them hard. These are minor and superficial injuries. Emergency medical care is not necessary for any of the soldiers,” the ministry statement read.

The IDF later confirmed that the rocket that struck the UNIFIL facility had been launched by Hezbollah, releasing images to show the location of the launch relative to the UN force’s position.

Earlier today, a report was received regarding damage caused to UNIFIL’s Headquarters in the area of Naqoura, southern Lebanon. An examination determined that Hezbollah launched a rocket from the Hallousiyyeh El Faouqa area which hit the @UNIFIL_ Headquarters.

UNIFIL reported a… pic.twitter.com/OhE6VpkuUI
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 29, 2024

On social media, many users quickly noted the difference in UNIFIL’s reporting; the Hezbollah rocket attack was mentioned only in a reply, whereas incidents involving IDF strikes are reported with Israeli forces mentioned prominently in the initial post.

One user accused UNIFIL of doing this intentionally.

“Burying the lede?” he responded. “Only 1/8th of the people who saw your [first] post also saw this.”

Another user responded, “Sorry to hear about your friendly fire incident.”

A third responded, saying UNIFIL “should remind the Hizbullah that you have always been on their side and never saw nothing.”

However, it was not only social media users who have noticed a difference in how UNIFIL reports alleged Israeli violations of the Blue Line.

About two weeks ago, The Wall Street Journal published an editorial accusing the UNIFIL of failing to do its only job, “keep armed terrorists out of southern Lebanon.”

In the editorial, titled “U.N. Peacekeepers are Hezbollah’s Best Friend,” the authors note that UNIFIL never released a statement condemning Hezbollah for the rocket launches against Israel, which started on Oct. 8, 2023, before Israel had even responded to the Hamas massacre.

However, the peacekeeping force has consistently complained any time the IDF responded to Hezbollah fire in a way that threatened the UNIFIL troops in southern Lebanon, despite Israel’s repeated requests for them to relocate to safer areas.

Earlier this month, a former UN peacekeeper who served in the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNSTO), said UNIFIL is “totally subject to Hezbollah.”