UNIFIL says Israel dropped grenade, fired tank toward Lebanon peacekeepers

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) claims that an Israeli drone dropped a grenade near one of its patrols earlier today, and an Israeli tank fired toward the observers.

“This afternoon, at about 5:45 p.m., an Israeli drone came close to a UNIFIL patrol operating near Kfar Kila and dropped a grenade. Moments later, an Israeli tank fired a shot towards the peacekeepers,” UNIFIL says.

The observer force says that no damage or injuries were caused in the incident.

UNIFIL says that earlier, another Israeli drone flew over its patrol “in an aggressive manner.” It adds that “the peacekeepers applied necessary defensive countermeasures to neutralize the drone.”

“These actions by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are in violation of Security Council resolution 1701 and Lebanon’s sovereignty, and show disregard for the safety and security of the peacekeepers implementing Security Council-mandated tasks in southern Lebanon,” UNIFIL says.

There is no immediate comment from the IDF on the UNIFIL claims.

Earlier this month, UNIFIL twice accused the IDF of dropping grenades near its observers, including one incident in which an observer was lightly hurt.

In both of those incidents, the IDF said it had attempted to disperse Hezbollah activity, with no intention to harm the UNIFIL observers.

Israel has long argued that the observer force had failed in its mission, doing little to block Hezbollah from building up its forces near the Israeli border over decades.