The UNIFIL peacekeepers have issued a statement over the weekend after a Friday incident in the southern Lebanese border town of Maroun el-Ras in which an Israeli drone dropped grenades near their position in the area.
The drone strikes started around 11:30 am, according to the report, with a grenade dropped 30-40 meters away from the Irish peacekeepers. The second grenade was dropped 20 minutes later, exploding overhead, though fortunately not causing any casualties among personnel nor the civilian workers they were there to protect.
The UNIFIL has called on Israel to stop carrying out attacks on or near their own forces, or near Lebanese Army personnel. The statement stressed that such strikes are in violation of UN Resolution 1701.
UNIFIL personnel patrol southern Lebanon | Image is Public Domain
The same thing happened early last month near the village of Marwahin. At the time the IDF claimed the targeting was a mistake and that they thought the patrolling UNIFIL were Hezbollah, even though their patrol schedule had been reported to Israel ahead of time.
This time, there is no pretext of a mistake, and the Israeli drones seem to be deliberately menacing UNIFIL personnel, after demanding that the US veto their mandate back in August, but ultimately failing to get them removed from the mission, which was extended through the end of 2026.
UNIFIL positions were targeted throughout the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, with a drone strike in November wounding six Malaysian UNIFIL soldiers in the city of Sidon. The soldiers had just arrived in Lebanon the day before the attack.
France had warned Israel over disregarding UN decisions with military action in Lebanon, though as of yet they have not made a public comment over the strikes on UNIFIL personnel. The US, meant to be the other guarantor of the Lebanon ceasefire, has similarly not commented on the Israeli attacks.
