Khaberni - The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) announced on Friday that two of its patrols were fired upon from a close range of about 50 meters from an Israeli position, which fortunately did not lead to any injuries but marked a "worrying phenomenon."
UNIFIL's statement on Friday detailed that peacekeeping troops conducting a patrol in southern Lebanon "reported exposure to 15 rounds of small arms fire at no more than 50 meters distance."
The statement added, "Peacekeeping troops in a second patrol in the same area reported being subjected to about 100 rounds from machine guns at approximately 50 meters distance within less than 20 minutes," noting that "neither incident resulted in any damage or casualties."
It continued, "The peacekeeping troops assumed that the gunfire in both instances came from an Israeli military position south of the Blue Line," stating that "UNIFIL sent a request to cease fire through its own communication channels."
The statement affirmed that "UNIFIL had previously informed the Israeli military about the activities in those areas."
Additionally, UNIFIL announced last week that an Israeli attack near its position in southern Lebanon resulted in minor injuries to one of its soldiers.
Violation of Resolution 1701
In its statement on Friday, UNIFIL emphasized that "attacks on or near peacekeeping forces constitute serious violations of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701," which underpins the ceasefire agreement.
The United Nations Security Council voted in August to extend the mandate of UNIFIL until the end of 2026, with their withdrawal from Lebanon scheduled by the end of 2027.
It was expected that the ceasefire agreement would end the aggression launched by Israel on Lebanon in October 2023, which escalated into a full-scale war in September 2024, resulting in more than 4,000 deaths and over 17,000 injuries.
However, since the agreement came into effect in late November 2024, Israel has committed more than 10,000 breaches of the agreement according to UNIFIL, resulting in the deaths and injuries of hundreds of Lebanese, alongside material destruction.
Israel continues to defy the agreement by maintaining its occupation of five Lebanese hills in southern Lebanon, which it captured during the recent war, in addition to other Lebanese areas it has occupied for decades.
