UN Patrol in Lebanon Hit by Israeli Tank Fire, IDF Responds

UNIFIL peacekeepers on patrol (file)

On Sunday, a foot patrol of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was targeted by an Israeli Merkava tank firing from an Israeli position inside Lebanese territory.

According to the UN peacekeeping mission, bursts of heavy artillery landed just five metres from the UNIFIL peacekeepers, forcing them to retreat and take shelter in nearby terrain.

UNIFIL said its representatives contacted the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) through established communication channels and requested an immediate halt to the firing. The patrol was able to leave safely about half an hour later, once the tank withdrew to IDF positions.

“Fortunately, no one was injured,” UNIFIL said, adding that the incident was a serious violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted in 2006 to resolve the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

In response to queries from local media, IDF representatives reportedly claimed the attack resulted from a “misidentification” of UNIFIL troops due to weather conditions, saying there was no intention to target the peacekeepers.

This is the third such incident in the past three months. On 2 September, IDF drones dropped four grenades near UNIFIL personnel clearing roadblocks obstructing access to a UN position near the Blue Line, the buffer zone between Israel and Lebanon.

On 26 October, UNIFIL reported that an Israeli drone dropped a grenade near a UN patrol, followed by tank fire directed at the peacekeepers.

A Mission Nearing Its End

The latest incident comes at a sensitive time for UNIFIL, which is scheduled to leave Lebanon at the end of 2027, after nearly five decades along the Blue Line. Established in 1978 to oversee Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon, the mission — now comprising 10,500 peacekeepers — has long been considered a pillar of regional stability.

Its mandate was strengthened after the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, and again after last autumn’s deadly fighting that devastated several towns in southern Lebanon.

Since hostilities ceased in November 2024, UNIFIL has supported the redeployment of the Lebanese National Army into areas where the state continues to struggle to reassert control, while Israel maintains military positions in some locations.

“Yet again, we call on the IDF to cease any aggressive behaviour and attacks on or near peacekeepers,” UNIFIL said, stressing that its personnel are “working to restore the stability to which both Israel and Lebanon say they aspire.”