UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon says shots fired at Israeli border post

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said there were no casualties after small arms fire targeted a border post.

United Nations peacekeepers will end their decades-long mandate in Lebanon at the end of 2026 [File: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters]

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.

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“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.

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”.

联合国驻黎巴嫩临时部队表示，小型武器袭击边境哨所后，没有造成人员伤亡。

联合国维和部队在黎巴嫩长达数十年的任务将于2026年底结束。[图片：Mohamed Azakir/路透社]

联合国驻黎巴嫩临时部队（联黎部队）称，其位于黎巴嫩-以色列边境的一个哨所遭到小型武器袭击，但没有人员伤亡报告。

联合国部队称，这起事件发生在周三上午，几轮小型武器射击目标是位于联合国划定的以色列与卡法尔舒巴边界（即蓝线）附近的联合国驻黎巴嫩临时部队（联黎部队）阵地。

名单1/3：在黎巴嫩联合国车队遇袭事件中丧生的爱尔兰士兵

列表 2（共 3 项）：联合国驻黎巴嫩临时部队 (联黎部队) 如何以及为何未能“维护黎巴嫩和平”

名单中的第三名是随联合国驻黎巴嫩临时部队（联黎部队）在黎巴嫩袭击中丧生的三名法国士兵。

“此类蓄意袭击严重危及维和人员的生命，”联合国驻黎巴嫩临时部队在一份声明中表示，并补充说正在调查这起事件。

在美国和以色列的压力下，联合国安理会今年早些时候决定将12月31日定为联合国驻黎巴嫩维和部队任务期限的结束日。

联合国驻黎巴嫩临时部队（联黎部队）最初成立的目的是监督以色列军队在1978年以色列入侵黎巴嫩南部后撤出，此后其任务授权每年都会续签。

2006年以色列与真主党战争后，该任务的范围扩大了。支持者表示，该任务对于在动荡的以色列和黎巴嫩边境沿线维持双方之间的非军事缓冲区仍然至关重要。

以色列长期以来一直指责联合国驻黎巴嫩临时部队未能阻止真主党构成的威胁，并且自 2023 年 10 月 7 日哈马斯领导的袭击以色列以及以色列对加沙发动战争以来，跨境战斗不断升级，以色列也越来越强烈地推动结束联合国驻黎巴嫩临时部队的任务。

联合国驻黎巴嫩临时部队目前在黎巴嫩南部部署了来自约 50 个国家的 7500 名维和人员。

上个月，黎巴嫩总理纳瓦夫·萨拉姆向联合国施压，要求其“避免”因撤出该国南部特派团而造成的权力真空，除非有可行的替代方案。

自美伊战争6月签署谅解备忘录并实现停火以来，暴力事件有所减少。当月晚些时候，黎巴嫩和以色列在美国的斡旋下达成了一项框架协议。

以色列与黎巴嫩达成的协议包括真主党解除武装、以色列军队逐步从黎巴嫩南部撤军以及黎巴嫩军队向该地区部署，首先在被称为“试点区”的试验区进行部署。