BEIRUT: The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has called on Lebanese authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into an attack in the country’s south that resulted in the injury of one of its peacekeepers. The incident occurred in Taybeh, near the Israeli border, on Wednesday when a UNIFIL patrol was assaulted by a group.
In a statement issued on Thursday, UNIFIL condemned the attack and urged swift action to identify and bring the perpetrators to justice. The peacekeeping mission stressed that such attacks are not only condemnable but also violations of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and Lebanese law.
This recent incident follows two instances where UNIFIL patrols were blocked by groups of young men in southern Lebanon, a region known as a stronghold of Hezbollah group. The attack on the peacekeeping patrol in Taybeh resulted in a wounded peacekeeper and damage to a UNIFIL vehicle.
UN Force in Lebanon
UNIFIL, established in 1978 to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, has played a crucial role in maintaining stability in the region. Resolution 1701, passed in the aftermath of the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, enhanced UNIFIL’s mandate, tasking its approximately 10,000 peacekeepers with monitoring the ceasefire between the two sides.
The freedom of movement for UNIFIL patrols is deemed vital in the ongoing efforts to restore security and stability along the Blue Line, the frontier delineated by the UN in 2000 after the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.
The incident on Wednesday involved unidentified persons attacking a patrol of UNIFIL’s Indonesian contingent, causing injuries to one of the troops. In a separate event on Thursday, peacekeepers from the French contingent were temporarily blocked by a group of men in the border village of Kfar Kila.
