Two Israeli soldiers wounded in landmine explosion on Lebanese border

Posted on March 23, 2023 by uprootedpalestinians

March 22 2023

The explosion resulted in the amputation of an Israeli soldier’s leg

A landmine explosion on the Israeli-Lebanese border on 21 March targeted a military-issue Humvee belonging to the Israeli army, manned by a pair of soldiers involved in a routine engineering operation.

As a result, one soldier suffered a leg amputation in addition to moderate injuries, while the other soldier experienced light injuries from schrapnel. The two were taken to the Galilee Medical center for treatment there and were reported to both be alive.

Referred to as the “Blue Line,” the area is known to contain multiple live minefields following the events of several past conflicts, most notably, the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

صراخ أحد الجنود الصهاينة بعد بتر ساقه بإنفجار لغم ارضي أثناء القيام بأشغال هندسية عند حدود بلدة #عيتا_الشعب ونقله بدبابة ميركافا pic.twitter.com/2AMC0xkLmP

— علي شعيب || Ali Shoeib 🇱🇧 (@alishoeib1970) March 21, 2023

Sources delineate that the engineering operation the two soldiers were involved in concerned the replacement of the Blue Line’s well-worn fence with a high wall set to be finished within a time period of two years. Simultaneously, Hezbollah was reported to be building new tall observation posts on its side of the border.

These events are outlined by rising tensions between the two, reported by UNIFIL, which broke apart multiple standoffs between Lebanese and Israeli soldiers.

Israel confirms that the explosion was not an attack, as it went off on the Israeli side of the border.

Decades of conflict beginning in the 1980’s up until 2006 have left the Blue Line contaminated with over 400,000 landmines, creating a barrier minefield stretching 120 km across the southern border, reports MAG. In 2006, 4 million cluster bombs were airdropped on Lebanon, 40 percent of which did not explode on impact and are still live. According to the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, 3775 causalities of explosive remnants of war (ERWs) were recorded from 1975 up to 2017.

Over the past week, investigations have been ongoing concerning the 13 March bombing at the Megiddo junction in northern Israel that detailed a particular border crossing from Lebanese territory.

According to the Israeli army’s latest findings, the perpetrator crossed the fence using a ladder.

However, according to UN spokesman Andrea Tenenti, “the UNIFIL has not observed any border crossings in the recent days,” referring specifically to the Blue Line.