The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting on Tuesday, to condemn deadly attacks on U.N. peacekeepers in south Lebanon, with senior U.N. officials and diplomats calling for Israel and Hezbollah to de-escalate.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the U.N.’s peacekeeping chief, told the Council that “the situation has dangerously deteriorated with the ongoing escalation between Hezbollah and Israel across the Blue Line and beyond,” referring to the demarcation line dividing Israel and Lebanon and the Golan Heights.

He added that peacekeepers had seen a “worrying increase in denials of freedom of movement and aggressive behavior”.

Two Indonesian peacekeepers from the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon were killed on Monday, and two other peacekeepers were injured, one severely, when a roadside explosive struck their convoy, destroying their U.N.-marked vehicle, Mr. Lacroix, said.

It was the second deadly attack in just 24 hours. On Sunday, a projectile landed in a U.N. outpost, killing one Indonesian peacekeeper and critically injuring another. The U.N. said it was investigating the attacks to determine the origin.

Lebanon’s ambassador to the U.N., Ahmad Arafa, called the attacks “barbaric and irresponsible,” and said they must stop regardless of who was responsible.

“The attacks on peacekeepers are attacks on this Council itself. They undermine its reputation and credibility before the peoples of the world”.

—Source: The New York Times.