UNIFIL patrol comes under fire in southern Lebanon

A United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol has come under fire in southern Lebanon, the force said.

UNIFIL said on Tuesday that “about a dozen rounds” were fired at one of its patrols near Wadi Jilu, in Lebanon’s Tyre district, without specifying the entity behind the shooting.

The patrol returned fire, after which the shooting stopped. UNIFIL reported no casualties and called for an investigation.

“We reiterate the obligation under international law for all actors to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property at all times. Deliberate attacks on peacekeepers are violations of Security Council resolution 1701 and international humanitarian law,” UNIFIL said.

Security limbo

UNIFIL is a peacekeeping mission established by the UN Security Council in March 1978, days after Israel invaded Lebanon.

The force has acted as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon ever since, but its presence has been unable to prevent several rounds of conflict, including the latest between Israel and Hezbollah.

Israel continues to occupy swaths of southern Lebanon, despite a so-called ceasefire and a US-brokered framework agreement through which the Israeli military would withdraw from those areas and the Lebanese army would move in to disarm Hezbollah.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Tuesday that the G7 foreign ministers agreed on “the need to avoid a security void” in Lebanon after the UNIFIL mandate expires at the end of 2026.

The foreign ministers backed “the need to move quickly toward a new security architecture”, Barrot said after the group met in Paris.

However, the French foreign minister acknowledged that there had been no breakthrough regarding replacing UNIFIL, which comprises some 7,500 personnel from nearly 50 countries.

The UN Security Council last year voted, under US pressure, to end UNIFIL’s mandate on December 31, 2026. Lebanese officials have called for the mandate to be extended.