Israel strikes UN peacekeeping post with ‘direct fire’ in southern Lebanon, says UNIFIL

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said yesterday the perimeter of one of its peacekeeping positions in southern Lebanon was hit by “direct fire” from the Israeli occupation army on Tuesday, Anadolu reported.

This marked the first time a UNIFIL position was directly hit since the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire began on 27 November 2024.

In a statement, the peacekeeping mission said it is “concerned by the recent aggressive posture of the Israeli army involving UNIFIL personnel and assets near the Blue Line.”

The mission added that it had observed “at least four other incidents involving the Israeli army fire near its positions along the Blue Line.”

“In recent days,” the statement continued, “UNIFIL has also observed other aggressive behaviour by the IDF [Israeli occupation army] towards peacekeepers performing operational activities in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1701.”

It said that on Tuesday, UN peacekeepers patrolling with the Lebanese army near the town of Maroun Al-Ras reported being targeted “by a laser from a nearby Israeli military position.”

In another incident south of Alma Ash-Shaab on 7 May, “laser beams were pointed toward a UNIFIL patrol from two Israeli Merkava tanks,” it added.

“As the patrol began to move,” the mission said, a “drone flew approximately five metres above it, following the patrol for about a kilometre.”

Separately, an aerial vehicle repeatedly flew over a UNIFIL site east of the town of Houla, it added.

UNIFIL condemned all these actions, reminding “all actors of their responsibility to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN assets and premises at all times.”

A fragile ceasefire has been in place in Lebanon since November, ending months of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah, which escalated into a full-scale conflict in September.

Lebanese authorities have reported nearly 3,000 Israeli violations of the truce, including the deaths of nearly 200 people and the injuries of around 500 others.

Under the ceasefire deal, Israel was supposed to fully withdraw from southern Lebanon by 26 January, but the deadline was extended to 18 February after it refused to comply. It still maintains a military presence at five border outposts.