UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon says shots fired at Israeli border post
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) says one of its posts on the Lebanon-Israel border was targeted by small arms fire, with no casualties reported. The UN force said the incident occurred on Wednesday morning with several rounds of small arms fire targeting a UNIFIL position near Kfar Shouba along the UN-drawn border with Israel, known as the Blue Line. Recommended Stories list of 3 items list 1 of 3 Irish soldier killed in attack on UN convoy in Lebanon list 2 of 3 How and why UNIFIL failed to ‘keep peace’ in Lebanon list 3 of 3 French soldier serving with UNIFIL killed in Lebanon attack end of list “Such deliberate attacks gravely endanger the lives of peacekeepers,” UNIFIL said in a statement, adding that it was investigating the incident.
Under pressure from the United States and Israel, the UN Security Council decided earlier this year to set December 31 as the end of the mandate for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon. UNIFIL was initially created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel’s 1978 invasion, and its mandate has been renewed annually since then. The mission was expanded after the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Proponents say it remains important to maintaining a demilitarised buffer between the two sides along the volatile Israeli and Lebanese border. Israel has long accused UNIFIL of failing to prevent threats posed by Hezbollah and has increasingly pushed for the end of its mission since cross-border fighting escalated in the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel and the start of Israel’s war on Gaza. UNIFIL currently has 7,500 peacekeepers from around 50 countries operating in Southern Lebanon.
Last month, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam pressed the UN on the need to “avert the vacuum” that would be caused by withdrawing the mission from the country’s south without a viable replacement. Advertisement Violence has decreased since a ceasefire following a June memorandum of understanding in the US-Iran war. Lebanon and Israel concluded a US-sponsored framework agreement later that month. The Israel-Lebanon deal involves the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon’s south and the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region, starting in test areas known as “pilot zones”.
Left out here: Drops what it reported before
The article says violence has decreased since the ceasefire but never says that Israeli occupation forces still occupy parts of the south and keep shelling and demolishing homes there despite the framework agreement. Its own reporting from two weeks earlier and the same day's Anadolu report both say so. Without it a reader may picture the border area near Kfar Shouba as quiet.
How we know
- Al Jazeera English wrote earlier“as Israeli shelling and demolitions continue”Israeli shelling continues as Lebanon’s PM demands withdrawal in UN speech (opens in a new tab)
- Anadolu Agency (English) reported“Despite the agreement, Israel has continued to carry out attacks in southern Lebanon”UN Interim Force says gunfire hit its position in southern Lebanon (opens in a new tab)