Israeli drones dropped four grenades close to UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel as they were working to clear roadblocks, the force said. No one was hurt in the strike.
The peacekeeping force, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, described the incident as "one of the most serious attacks on UNIFIL personnel and assets" since the cessation of hostilities in November that ended the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war.
The Israeli military said later that it didn't intentionally target the peacekeepers, but dropped several sonic bombs near a suspect in a border area. It added that it had made contact with the peacekeeping force and explained the details of what happened.
UNIFIL said one grenade hit within 20m and three others within approximately 100m of UN personnel and vehicles, adding that the drones were observed returning toward Israel.
UNIFIL said the Israeli military had been informed in advance of the peacekeeping force’s road clearance work in the area, southeast of the village of Marwahin and less than a kilometre from the border line.
"Out of concern for the safety of peacekeepers following the incident, yesterday’s work was suspended," UNIFIL said.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric when asked whether Secretary-General Antonio Guterres accepted Israel's explanation that it did not intentionally target the peacekeepers, said, "Whether or not they meant to do it... what I can tell you is that the Israeli Defence Forces were fully informed in advance of the work that we were doing on road clearance in that area."
He said that UN officials were "relieved that no one was hurt. But this could have been very tragic indeed".
France, which has a large force within UNIFIL, condemned the attack, saying that the “respect of its members applies to all parties without exception." Qatar called it a "grave violation of international humanitarian law," and the UN Security Council resolution that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The attack came after the UN Security Council voted unanimously last week to terminate the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon at the end of next year after nearly five decades, bowing to demands from the United States and Israel.
The multinational peacekeeping force has played a significant role in monitoring the security situation in southern Lebanon for decades, including during the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. It has also drawn criticism from both sides and from officials in US President Donald Trump's administration, which has moved to slash Washington's funding for the operation as Trump remakes the US approach to foreign policy.
The Israel-Hezbollah war killed more than 4000 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of civilians, and caused destruction worth US$11 billion (NZ$18.7 billion) according to the World Bank. In Israel, 127 people died, including 80 soldiers.
The war started when Hezbollah began firing rockets across the border on October 8, 2023, a day after a deadly Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. Israel responded with shelling and airstrikes in Lebanon, and the two sides became locked in an escalating conflict that became a full-blown war in late September 2024.
UNIFIL said that any actions that endanger peacekeepers and assets or interfere with their tasks are unacceptable and a serious violation of international law and the resolution that ended the war. The UN force also said that it was the Israeli military's responsibility to ensure the safety and security of the peacekeepers performing UN Security Council-mandated tasks.
The Israeli military said that its troops carried out an operation inside Lebanon on the edge of the disputed Chebaa Farms, where they detonated artillery pieces that were used by Hezbollah members during the war.
Chebaa Farms was captured by Israel from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war, but Lebanon considers it and the nearby Kfar Chouba hills as Lebanese territory.
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