The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported on Friday that Israeli operations interfered with one of their patrols, with gunfire and an explosion impacting near their forces.
"Heavy machine gunfire from Israel Defense Forces (IDF) positions south of the Blue Line impacted close to a UNIFIL patrol inspecting a roadblock in the village of Bastarra. The gunfire followed a grenade explosion nearby," said the statement.
"While there was no damage to UNIFIL assets, the sound of the gunfire and the explosion left one peacekeeper slightly injured with an ear concussion," it added.
In another incident, UNIFIL reported that a patrol in the village of Kfar Shouba heard machine gun fire from Israeli troops near their position.
UNIFIL leaks information to Hezbollah
UNIFIL and the IDF had been clashing in the last couple of months, with the UN's force targeting IDF surveillance drones and allegedly leaking information to Hezbollah, according to a report by Army Radio.
On November 30, senior IDF officials fear that photographs and documentation taken by UNIFIL peacekeepers of Israeli military operations on the Lebanon-Israel border are being leaked to Hezbollah, according to Army Radio reports.
The IDF also discovered an official UNIFIL document which referred to Israel as "the enemy," which, after Israel demanded answers, Army Radio claimed that UNIFIL apologized for the phrasing, claiming they had "copied the wording of the Lebanese army" and had "forgotten" to correct it.
Additionally, a drone incident occurred on October 27, when UNIFIL reported that Israeli drones flying over UNIFIL patrols in an “aggressive manner,” stating that “the peacekeepers applied necessary defensive countermeasures to neutralize the drone.”
These situations all took place in the context of an imminent UNIFIL withdrawal from Lebanon, with the force set to remain fully operational in the country until 2026, when the operation will begin a year-long “orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal.”
The withdrawal was approved by the United Nations Security Council, with a French resolution that “requests UNIFIL to cease its operations on December 31, 2026, and to start from this date and within one year its orderly and safe... withdrawal... in close consultation with the government of Lebanon.”
Amichai Stein, Reuters, and The Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.