UN peacekeeper killed, three wounded in south Lebanon

A United Nations peacekeeper was killed and three others were injured when a UNIFIL patrol came under small arms fire while clearing explosive ordnance along a road in the southern Lebanese village of Ghandouriyeh.

Two of the injured peacekeepers were seriously injured, the peacekeeping mission said on Saturday.

UNIFIL said initial assessments showed that the fire came from non-state actors alleged to be Hezbollah and that an investigation had been launched into what it described as a “deliberate attack”.

French President Emmanuel Macron had previously announced that a French soldier serving in the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) in Lebanon was killed in the attack and blamed the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah and called on the Lebanese authorities to take action against those responsible.

While the Lebanese army condemned the attack and said it had launched an investigation, President Joseph Aoun expressed his condolences over the murder and ordered an immediate investigation. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam also condemned the attack.

UNIFIL was first deployed in 1978 and has maintained a presence throughout successive conflicts, including the 2024 war in which its positions have repeatedly come under fire.