Adding to a growing number of such incidents, the UNIFIL peacekeepers in southern Lebanon reported on Sunday that the Israeli military attacked their personnel. This incident saw Israeli tanks fire on the UNIFIL near one of the military outposts the IDF has built in Lebanese territory.
No UNIFIL troops were injured in the incident, though they had to hunker down in a position for 30 minutes before withdrawing from the area. The IDF claimed the weather was poor and they mistook the UNIFIL for “suspects,” though they also claimed firing on them was not “deliberate.”
This is the first Israeli attack on the UNIFIL this month, but in October, they had two incidents in which Israeli drones dropped grenades on the UNIFIL, one of which wounded a UNIFIL member. The IDF continually referred to the UNIFIL as “suspects.”
An Israeli tank operates February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta
The persistent attacks on ‘suspects’ who turn out to be UN peacekeepers is a source of no small tension with Israeli forces in the area, though Israel has repeatedly insisted they will continue to act against “terrorists” in southern Lebanon, apparently irrespective of how often they turn out to just be UNIFIL.
The timing of this attack is also likely to add to those concerns. Just two days prior, the UNIFIL was in the area near the border, and confirmed that the Israeli military’s new “border wall” crosses into Lebanese territory, as was previously reported.
Last week it was reported that the Israeli border wall was as much as 2-3 kilometers into Lebanese territory near the towns of Aitaroun and Maroun El Ras. The IDF denied at the time that this was the case, saying it was entirely on Israeli soil.
Now the UNIFIL confirms that is not the case, and while they didn’t clarify exactly how far into Lebanese territory the wall extends, this will no doubt play a role in Lebanon’s intention to file a complaint with the UN over the wall. That Israel attacked UNIFIL forces in the area shortly thereafter may make this complaint a more serious one than normal complaints about Israel violating Lebanese sovereignty.
