The Israeli army justified an attack this Sunday against soldiers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (FINUL) with bad weather conditions in the area, which led to international soldiers being confused with suspicious people.
“After a review, it was determined that The suspects were UN soldiers patrolling the area and were classified as suspects due to poor weather conditions.”according to the army in a statement.
The Israeli military added that its troops “they did not deliberately shoot at FINUL soldiers” and that the incident is under investigation.
The United Nations force in Lebanon had previously accused the Israeli army of opening fire on its soldiers in the south of the country and called on Tel Aviv to cease all attacks.
“This morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fired at UNIFIL peacekeepers from a Merkava tank located near a position established by Israel in Lebanese territory,” the UN mission said in a statement.
FINUL reported that heavy machine guns opened fire near the international soldiers, but they managed to leave the area safely as the armored vehicle withdrew.
These attacks, the statement also warns, “constitute a serious violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701”, referring to the text that ended the 2006 war between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah and serves as the basis for the ceasefire agreement in November last year.
Under the UN resolution, only the Lebanese army and peacekeeping forces are authorized to deploy in southern Lebanon, in a demilitarized area near the border with Israel.
At the end of October, the United Nations and France had already reported Israeli fire near international troops in southern Lebanon and, the previous month, UNIFIL accused Israel of using drones to launch grenades near its positions.
Israel stated at the time that there was “no intentional firing” at the United Nations military.
This Sunday’s incident comes after UNIFIL accused Israel on Friday of violating Lebanon’s sovereignty by building walls in Lebanese territory near the border.
UN forces indicated that Israel erected separation walls in the Yaroun region, “rendering more than 4,000 square meters of Lebanese territory inaccessible” to inhabitants.
For its part, the Israeli army rejected the accusations, recognizing, however, that it is erecting a reinforcement barrier along the demarcation line between Israel and Lebanon.
Israel has intensified bombings in Lebanon in recent weeks, despite the ceasefire in force, which it justifies with violations of understanding by Hezbollah.
The Lebanese political and military group is part of the so-called axis of resistance supported by Iran and became involved in military hostilities with Israel, shortly after the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, in October 2023, in support of the Palestinian ally Hamas.
After almost a year of exchanging fire along the Israeli-Lebanese border, Israel launched a strong air campaign in the summer of last year, which decapitated the leadership of the Shiite movement, including its historic leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several other officials in Hezbollah’s political and military hierarchy.
Since the ceasefire, the Lebanese State has sought to concentrate all of the country’s weapons in the hands of official security forces and has deployed troops to the border area with Israel, traditionally a Hezbollah stronghold and where Israeli troops still maintain military positions.
FINUL ends its mandate in 2026, after almost five decades on the ground.