BEIRUT:&nbsp;The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Israeli soldiers shot at its troops on Sunday in the south of the country, while Israel&#39;s military said it mistook blue helmets for &quot;suspects&quot; and fired warning shots. The Israeli military blamed &quot;poor weather conditions&quot; and said it had not deliberately targeted UN troops. Earlier on Sunday, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a statement that Israeli forces &quot;fired on UNIFIL peacekeepers from a Merkava tank from near a position Israel has established in Lebanese territory,&quot; adding that heavy machine gun rounds hit about five meters from their personnel. The force said the peacekeepers were able to &quot;leave safely 30 minutes later&quot; after the tank withdrew inside the Israeli position. &lsquo;Poor weather conditions&rsquo;In a statement, the Israeli military said &quot;two suspects were identified&quot; in the El Hamames area of southern Lebanon. &quot;The troops subsequently fired warning shots, and the suspects distanced themselves. No injuries were reported,&quot; it said. &quot;After a review, it was determined that the suspects were UN soldiers who were conducting a patrol in the area and were classified as suspects due to poor weather conditions. &lsquo;Violation&rsquo; of UNSC resolution&nbsp;&quot;No deliberate fire was directed toward UNIFIL soldiers.&quot; UNIFIL has been working with the Lebanese army to consolidate a truce between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah reached last November. It said the incident &quot;represents a serious violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701&quot;, which ended a 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, and also formed the basis of last November&#39;s truce. That ceasefire sought to end more than a year of hostilities between the parties, which broke out after the start of the Gaza war. Under the deal, Israel was to withdraw its forces from south Lebanon, but it has kept them in five areas it deems strategic. &lsquo;Aggressive behavior&rsquo;It has also carried out regular strikes on targets in Lebanon, arguing it is hitting Hezbollah sites and operatives. The Israeli military said the incident was under examination and was being handled through official military liaison channels. Sunday&#39;s incident was not the first in which UNIFIL accused Israel of endangering its troops. &quot;Yet again, we call on the IDF to cease any aggressive behavior and attacks on or near peacekeepers,&quot; the force said. &lsquo;Violating Lebanese sovereignty&rsquo;&nbsp;Lebanon&#39;s army, meanwhile, accused Israel of &quot;violating Lebanese sovereignty, causing instability and obstructing the full deployment of the army in the south&quot;. The army is meant to deploy to the area alongside UNIFIL as part of the ceasefire agreement. It said it was &quot;working, in coordination with friendly countries, to put an end to the continuous violations&quot;.

Middle East

UNIFIL says the incident "represents a serious violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701", which ended a 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, and also formed the basis of last November's truce.

UN peacekeepers say Israeli forces fired on them in southern Lebanon

BEIRUT: The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said Sunday that one of its members was wounded by an Israeli grenade dropped near a UN position in the country&#39;s south, the third incident of its kind in just over a month. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been working with the Lebanese army to support a November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and militant group Hezbollah that culminated in two months of open war. &quot;Just before noon yesterday, an Israeli drone dropped a grenade that exploded near a UNIFIL position&quot; in Kfar Kela, the force said in a statement published on Sunday. &quot;One peacekeeper was lightly injured and received medical assistance.&quot; Earlier this month, UNIFIL said Israeli drones had dropped multiple grenades near peacekeepers providing security for workers clearing rubble left over from the war. And in a similar episode in September, UNIFIL said Israeli drones had dropped four grenades near peacekeepers, with Israel insisting at the time that there had been &quot;no intentional fire&quot; directed at the force. UNIFIL said Saturday&#39;s incident represented &quot;another serious violation of resolution 1701 and concerning disregard for the safety of peacekeepers&quot;. UN Security Council Resolution 1701 ended a 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and formed the basis of the November ceasefire. Under the US-brokered ceasefire, Hezbollah and Israel were both required to withdraw from south Lebanon, while UNIFIL deployed there alongside the Lebanese military, in part to help dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure. Israel has kept up regular strikes in Lebanon on what it says are Hezbollah targets despite the truce, and has maintained its troops in five locations it deems strategic. &quot;We again call on the (Israeli army) to cease attacks on or near peacekeepers, who are working to rebuild the stability that both Israel and Lebanon have committed to restore,&quot; the UN peacekeeping force said. UNIFIL has been deployed since 1978 to separate Israel and Lebanon, and numbers some 10,000 personnel from almost 50 countries. In August, the Security Council voted to end UNIFIL&#39;s mission in 2027.

Firefighters douse the flames at the site of an overnight Israeli strike in Al-Msayleh area in southern Lebanon on October 11, 2025.

A UN peacekeeper in Lebanon was lightly injured by an Israeli grenade near a UNIFIL position, marking the third such incident in just over a month.

Articles tagged with "United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)"

UN peacekeepers say Israeli forces fired on them in southern Lebanon

UN force in Lebanon says peacekeeper wounded by Israeli grenade