Three incidents that occurred this Saturday between the Israeli army and the French contingent of the UNIFIL in southern Lebanon did not cause any casualties.
Three incidents between the Israeli army and the French contingent of the UNIFIL took place this Saturday in the Naqoura area in southern Lebanon, BFMTV learned on Monday, March 30. These events did not result in any injuries.
On Saturday morning, Israeli soldiers stationed north of Naqoura pointed their weapons at the Chief of Staff of the UNIFIL, General Paul Sanzey, and his assistant. They were returning from Beirut. They were then ordered to leave the area. The two Frenchmen were able to continue their journey to Naqoura.
Later in the afternoon, IDF soldiers opened fire on a logistics convoy on a resupply mission, led by French soldiers. Then, in the late afternoon, the commander of the Force Commander Reserve, a rapid reaction force directly under the command of the UNIFIL commander, armed by a Franco-Finnish battalion, was the target of fire from an Israeli tank.
Three UN peacekeepers killed in southern Lebanon within a few hours
The events were condemned by France through its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot. He referred to “serious incidents suffered by the French contingent of the UNIFIL in the Naqoura area” on his social networks.
“These security breaches and intimidations by Israeli army soldiers against UN personnel are unacceptable and unjustifiable, especially since deconfliction procedures were respected,” he wrote.
This comes in a particularly tense context in southern Lebanon where three UN peacekeepers died within a few hours.
Two of them died in “an explosion of unknown origin” that destroyed their vehicle near Bani Hayyan. Another, of Indonesian nationality, was killed on Sunday by the explosion of a projectile of unknown origin in the border area between Lebanon and the state of Israel.
Following the serious incidents faced by the UN peacekeepers of the UNIFIL, France requested the holding of an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Monday.
Since Lebanon was dragged into a regional war on March 2 by Hezbollah, Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 1,200 people and injured over 3,600 according to the latest government figures.
