‘This is one of the most serious attacks on UNIFIL personnel and assets’ since November ceasefire, UN force says.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has said Israeli drones dropped four grenades close to peacekeepers on Tuesday morning near the southern Lebanese border with Israel.
“This is one of the most serious attacks on UNIFIL personnel and assets since the cessation of hostilities agreement of last November,” UNIFIL said in a statement on Wednesday.
“One grenade impacted within 20 metres and three within approximately 100 metres of UN personnel and vehicles.”
The peacekeepers were working to clear roadblocks, which were hindering access to a UN position, UNIFIL said.
Israel has been violating the November 2024 ceasefire it reached with Hezbollah, carrying out near-daily attacks on Lebanon, claiming to target Hezbollah sites and members, but also killing large numbers of civilians, displacing communities and destroying infrastructure and residential buildings.
UNIFIL says the Israeli army was informed in advance of its road clearance work in the area, southeast of the village of Marwahin.
“Any actions endangering UN peacekeepers and assets, and interference with their mandated tasks are unacceptable and a serious violation of Resolution 1701 and international law,” UNIFIL said, referring to the resolution adopted at the end of the 2006 war to stop hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
‘Seen as a message by the Israeli army’
media’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, said: “The Israeli army knew that UN peacekeepers would be carrying out work to remove the rubble, and that’s why they are calling this a deliberate targeting.
“This is being seen as a message by the Israeli army that it is not going to allow anyone to reach areas close to the border. Since the ceasefire, Israel has established positions within Lebanese territory along that border, creating a de facto buffer zone,” Khodr said.
“Tens of thousands of people have also not been able to return to their destroyed villages, not even to rebuild or to clear the rubble. Israeli drones usually target those bulldozers.”
Khodr said Lebanon wants the UN to stay because the Lebanese army does not have enough troops to deploy there.
“The Lebanese state is committing itself to fully disarming Hezbollah. To do that, it needs army troops deployed in the south, and that’s why it needs UNIFIL,” she added.
Established in 1978, UNIFIL patrols Lebanon’s southern border with Israel.
Last week, the United Nations Security Council unanimously extended the peacekeeping mission in Lebanon until the end of 2026, after which a yearlong orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal will commence.
The winding down of UNIFIL has been pushed heavily by Israel and the United States, who accuse the group of providing political cover for Hezbollah since the 2006 war, which ended in an impasse, and of failing to work to disarm Hezbollah, despite that not being the UN body’s stated mission.
Meanwhile, Israel continues to occupy at least five points on Lebanese territory, following its invasion of southern Lebanon last October. The ceasefire agreement reached in November stipulated that Israeli troops should withdraw from south Lebanon, but that has not yet happened.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem has rejected growing pressure to disarm the group, warning that Lebanon’s sovereignty could only be achieved by ending Israeli “aggression”.
Qassem said last month the Lebanese government must first ensure Israel complies with a November 2024 ceasefire agreement before talks on a national defence strategy can take place.
“The resistance will remain as a strong barrier preventing Israel from achieving its goals, and Israel will not be able to remain in Lebanon or achieve its expansionist project through Lebanon,” the Hezbollah chief said.
He dismissed Lebanese government and foreign proposals to integrate Hezbollah’s arsenal into a national defence strategy, insisting that Israel must first withdraw from Lebanese territory, release prisoners and halt its attacks.
