UNIFIL neutralises Israeli drone after attack in south Lebanon

The United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) said on Sunday that it had, for the first time, neutralised an Israeli drone after it flew over one of its patrols near the town of Kfarkela.

In a statement posted on its official X account, UNIFIL said that "an Israeli drone approached a UNIFIL patrol near the southern town of Kfarkela, dropped a bomb, and moments later, an Israeli tank fired toward the peacekeepers. No injuries or damage were reported among UNIFIL personnel or their equipment".

The force added that "this incident came after a previous one at the same location, where an Israeli drone flew aggressively over a UNIFIL patrol, and the peacekeepers took the necessary defensive measures to neutralise the drone".

UNIFIL condemned the Israeli army’s actions, saying that they "constitute a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and Lebanon’s sovereignty, and show disregard for the safety and security of peacekeepers performing their mandated duties".

UN Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted in 2006, calls for a halt to hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel and the establishment of a weapons-free zone between the Blue Line - marking Israel’s 2000 withdrawal from Lebanon - and the Litani River, with only the Lebanese army and UNIFIL permitted to operate there.

The latest incident follows several similar episodes in recent weeks.

On 12 October, UNIFIL reported that one of its peacekeepers was lightly wounded when an Israeli drone dropped a bomb that exploded near a UN position in Kfarkela. Earlier, on 2 October, Israeli forces dropped bombs near UNIFIL troops in the southern town of Maroun al-Ras, according to a statement from the peacekeeping mission.

UNIFIL, established in 1978 after Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon, has maintained a strengthened mandate since the 2006 war, under which more than 10,000 peacekeepers monitor the ceasefire and support the Lebanese army’s deployment south of the Litani River.

In October 2023, Israel launched an offensive on Lebanon that escalated into a full-scale war by September 2024, killing more than 4,000 people and injuring around 17,000, according to official figures.

Although a ceasefire was reached in November 2024, Israel has since violated it over 4,500 times, resulting in hundreds of additional casualties.

Despite the agreement, Israel continues to occupy five Lebanese hills captured during the last war, as well as other areas it has held for decades. UNIFIL has repeatedly warned that Israel’s continued presence inside Lebanese territory “obstructs the full deployment of the Lebanese army in the south".