Lebanon: UN peacekeeping force warns drone incidents near its positions are putting personnel at risk

This article is published in association with United Nations.

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said on Wednesday that escalating drone activity and nearby explosions involving suspected Hezbollah drones and Israeli forces are endangering its personnel and threatening already fragile stability in southern Lebanon.

The warning came amid ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah fighters, despite a ceasefire beginning 17 April.

On Monday, 11 May, between 5pm and 5.30pm, “three presumed Hezbollah drones detonated in an area where Israeli security forces soldiers may have been present, within metres of UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura”, the mission said in a statement.

Multiple incidents

Another drone detonated in the same area on Tuesday 12 May, at around 5.20pm and a few minutes later, “a presumed Hezbollah drone detonated inside UNIFIL headquarters”. No injuries were reported, but some buildings were damaged.

In a separate incident on the evening of Sunday 10 May, an unarmed drone crashed in an open area inside UNIFIL headquarters. No one was injured. 

UNIFIL said that preliminary findings indicated the drone had been made in Iran, “suggesting that it had been launched by Hezbollah”.

The peacekeeping mission also reported that on Tuesday 5 May, an armed fibre-optic-guided drone, also believed linked to Hezbollah, crashed through the roof of a building at a UN position near Al Hinniyah in Tyre district, south Lebanon. The drone did not detonate, and no injuries were reported.

Ensure safety of peacekeepers

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UNIFIL reiterated its call for all actors to avoid operating near United Nations positions and personnel, and to refrain from any action that could endanger peacekeepers.

The mission said it had specifically protested the presence, activities and movement of Israeli security personnel and vehicles near UNIFIL headquarters. It had also protested the activities of non-State actors near UN positions to the Lebanese Armed Forces.

According to the Lebanese authorities, Israeli strikes have killed more than 380 people since the ceasefire began. The overall toll from Israeli strikes since 2 March when war erupted shortly after Israel-US bombing of Iran began has now reached more than 2,880 people, including 279 women and 200 children.

Hostilities continue

Elsewhere in southern Lebanon, two airstrikes on Tuesday reportedly destroyed several buildings in the village of Sohmor in Bekaa governorate, after displacement orders were issued overnight for the entire village.

According to the UN aid relief office, OCHA, attacks continue to impact healthcare and essential civilian services, including one strike Monday that hit a volunteer-run medical centre affiliated with the health authority in Srifa, in the South governorate, killing one medic and injuring five others. 

“Earlier the same day, another medic was killed in Toul, in the Nabatiyeh governorate, while assisting victims following a strike,” OCHA said.