UNIFIL Peacekeeper Injured By Israeli Fire In Southern Lebanon, Says UN

One United Nations peacekeeper serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon was injured after heavy gunfire from Israeli army positions south of the Blue Line in southern Lebanon, the UN said, highlighting growing security concerns for international forces operating close to the frontier.

The United Nations reported that two separate security incidents affected UNIFIL patrols on the same day. Both patrols were operating in southern Lebanon near the Blue Line, the demarcation between Lebanon and Israel, when they encountered gunfire in areas where peacekeepers were already on the ground.

According to the United Nations, the first incident occurred in the town of Bastarah. A UNIFIL patrol was checking a roadblock when a hand grenade exploded in the area, injuring a member of the international force before fire from heavy machine guns, launched by Israeli forces, hit close to the patrol.

The same statement, issued in the name of Secretary-General’s spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, said that the gunfire from Israeli positions came from south of the Blue Line. The fire landed near the UNIFIL patrol already dealing with the earlier grenade blast in Bastarah, increasing the risk to personnel.

In a second incident that day, another UNIFIL patrol reported that the vicinity of its position near the town of Kfarchouba also came under gunfire from south of the Blue Line. No injuries were mentioned from this event, but the United Nations treated it as a serious security breach.

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The United Nations stressed in its statement that UNIFIL had already notified the Israeli army of its planned movements in both affected areas. This notice followed standard procedures for patrols in sensitive zones near the Blue Line, where coordination is meant to reduce the risk of miscalculation.

UNIFIL and United Nations emphasise safety of peacekeepers near Blue Line

The United Nations further disclosed that, in recent days, several incidents had been recorded where local individuals restricted the movement of UNIFIL patrols within the mission’s area of operations. These constraints added another layer of difficulty for peacekeepers working to carry out their tasks safely.

The Secretary-General’s spokesperson said that any action that puts United Nations peacekeepers at risk is completely unacceptable and repeated the call on all parties to stop any activities that might threaten international troops or block implementation of their mandate under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701.

The statement from the United Nations underlined that every party operating in southern Lebanon shares responsibility for protecting the safety and security of peacekeeping forces. The organisation linked this obligation directly to the wider effort to uphold Resolution 1701 and maintain stability along the Blue Line.

With inputs from WAM