A spokesman for the Irish Defence Forces has confirmed the two United Nations peacekeepers injured by mortar bombs on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights were not Irish.
Mortar bombs launched from Syria wounded two UN peacekeepers on the Golan Heights on Monday near where the Irish Infantry Group is based at Camp Ziouani.
The Israeli military said the mortars appeared to be a spillover from Syrian civil war fighting.
The spokesman for the Irish Defence Forces declined to confirm the nationality of the injured peacekeepers.
Minister for Defence Simon Coveney voiced concerns about the incident and warned the situation remained volatile, where “I am fully aware that peacekeeping operations are not without risk, however the safety of our troops is my priority,” he said. “I am concerned at the recent incidents and will continue to monitor developments in the region.”
The Irish Defence Forces has been in the Golan Heights since 2013, acting as a quick reaction force, on stand-by to help the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).
Along with troops from Fiji, India, Nepal and the Netherlands, they monitor a ceasefire line that has separated Israelis from Syrians for more than four decades.
In April the 48th Infantry Group of the Irish Defence Forces took up duty on the Golan Heights, providing military support for UN observers in the area. The 48th group, who were taking over from their colleagues in the 46th Infantry Group, comprises 130 Irish men and women.
UNDOF - with about 800 soldiers - was established in 1974. It monitors a ceasefire line on the Golan that has separated Israelis from Syrians since a 1973 war.
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.
Shells fired in battles between forces loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and rebels trying to topple him over the past four years of fighting have occasionally landed on Golan Heights.
Additional reporting from Reuters
