UNIFIL’s outgoing deputy chief wounded as convoy attacked by pro-Hezbollah rioters
Peacekeeping force demands perpetrators be brought to justice after terror group’s backers torch vehicle headed to Beirut airport, where 2 Iranian planes were blocked from landing
The outgoing deputy commander of UNIFIL was injured Friday, the international peacekeeping force said, after a convoy taking troops to the Beirut airport was attacked amid pro-Hezbollah demonstrations in the area.
Supporters of the Hezbollah terror group have blocked the road to the country’s only airport for two consecutive nights over a decision barring two Iranian planes from landing in the Lebanese capital. The decision came after the Israel Defense Forces said Iran was smuggling cash to Hezbollah via civilian flights.
According to the Saudi-owned network Al-Arabiya, the three-car UNIFIL convoy was assaulted by young men who beat officers, stole equipment and burned at least one vehicle.
In a statement, UNIFIL demanded a full and immediate investigation by Lebanese authorities and for all perpetrators to be brought to justice.
“We are shocked by this outrageous attack on peacekeepers who have been serving to restore security and stability to south Lebanon during a difficult time,” said the UN peacekeeping force. “Attacks on peacekeepers are flagrant violations of international law and may amount to war crime.”
“Peacekeepers continue to work to restore security and stability in south Lebanon in accordance with our mandate under Security Council Resolution 1701,” the statement added, referring to the UN decision ending the 2006 Second Lebanon War that requires Hezbollah to pull its fighters north of the Litani River.
The statement did not name the injured deputy commander, a post held since 2022 by Maj. Gen. Chok Bahadur Dhakal, of Nepal, who was set to leave the country after completing his mission when the convoy was attacked.
כלי רכב של יוניפי"ל הוצת בידי תומכי חיזבאללה ליד שדה התעופה בביירות@OmerShahar123 @kaisos1987 pic.twitter.com/ayO8KGYDsd
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) February 14, 2025
The Lebanese military vowed to take “firm action to prevent any breach of public order and arrest troublemakers” in “several areas, particularly the area around the airport.”
The incident underscored tensions in Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s new government, which includes Hezbollah as a minor member.
Hezbollah and its allies appeared to be scrambling to distance themselves from Friday’s attack. Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV said in a statement posted on its social media accounts that “unruly elements caused chaos with suspicious objectives on the Beirut airport road.”
The fellow Shi’ite Amal Movement of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who secured the terror group a place in the government, said in a statement that “the attack on UNIFIL is an attack on southern Lebanon” and called for the army and security forces to pursue the perpetrators.
The United States condemned the attack, saying it was “reportedly by a group of Hezbollah supporters.”
Salam, the former top judge at the International Court of Justice, was tapped for premier by Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun, whose election last month, with the backing of Washington, Riyadh and Paris, ended a two-year impasse.
Aoun had previously served as head of the Lebanese Armed Forces. Upon accession to the presidency, he vowed to uphold the state’s monopoly on arms — a thinly veiled threat against Hezbollah’s extensive arsenal. The Iran-backed terror group was the only armed force not to surrender its weapons to the state after Lebanon’s 15-year civil war, which ended in 1990.
In retaliation for what it described as Israel’s illegal threat, Tehran on Friday blocked Lebanese planes from landing in Iran, stranding dozens of homebound Lebanese.
Throughout the nearly 14-month war with Hezbollah, which ended with a November 27 ceasefire, Israel has repeatedly accused the terrorist organization of using Lebanon’s only airport to smuggle arms from Iran.
The ceasefire agreement required Hezbollah to vacate southern Lebanon and gave Israel 60 days, until January 26, to withdraw from the area. The withdrawal deadline was extended, with Beirut’s approval, to February 18. On Thursday, Berri said he had rejected an Israeli request to stay longer in some areas.
The war was sparked when Hezbollah, unprovoked, began attacking Israel on a near-daily basis on October 8, 2023 — a day after fellow Hamas-backed group Hamas stormed southern Israel by the thousands to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.
Israel stepped up operations against Hezbollah in September in a bid to end the terror group’s persistent rocket fire, which had displaced some 60,000 northerners.
