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tension in the south lebanon The matter has escalated further after reports of one being killed by UN peacekeepers Israel drones over the weekend, an incident that has drawn conflicting statements from both the Israeli military and the UN peacekeeping mission.
It comes amid a backdrop of stepped-up Israeli military actions across Lebanon, challenging a fragile ceasefire established after clashes with Israel last November. Hezbollah,
The Lebanese government also faces growing international pressure to disarm the powerful group.
Renewed hostilities begin the day after 7 October 2023 Hamas-Attacked Israel, which ignited the war Gaza Strip,
Subsequently, Hezbollah, a terrorist group based mainly in southern Lebanon, began launching rockets at Israel in a show of solidarity with Hamas and the Palestinian cause.
Israeli Arab military spokesman Avichai Adrai said on Monday that when the drone was near UNIFIL peacekeeping forces in the south-eastern border town of Kfar Kila, it was carrying out “routine information-gathering and reconnaissance activity” and did not fire at the peacekeeping troops.
“After the drone was shot down, defense forces threw a hand grenade into the area where the drone was downed,” Mr. Adrai, formerly of X, said in a statement on Twitter.
However, UNIFIL said in a statement on Sunday that an Israeli drone had flown “aggressively” over a UNIFIL patrol and that “peacekeepers implemented the necessary defensive countermeasures to neutralize it”.
It said that soon after, an Israeli drone dropped a grenade near the peacekeeping mission and an Israeli tank fired toward them.
No peacekeepers were injured.
The peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, was created to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli troops after Israel’s 1978 invasion of southern Lebanon. Its mission was expanded after a month-long war in 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah.
Earlier this year, the UN Security Council voted to end UNIFIL’s mandate until December 31, 2026, at which point the force will have one year to cease its mission and withdraw its forces and personnel.