UNIFIL says continued attacks on patrols unacceptable after new incident

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Tuesday said the continued attacks on its troops are “unacceptable,” after a patrol was attacked by residents and a peacekeeper was slapped near the southern town of al-Hallousiyeh.

Noting that the patrol had been coordinated with the Lebanese Army, UNIFIL stressed that freedom of movement is an essential condition for UNIFIL’s mandate and added that it has the right to move with or without Lebanese Army troops.

It accordingly called on Lebanese authorities to take all necessary measures to guarantee that U.N. peacekeepers perform their missions without obstacles or threats.

The National News Agency had reported that “young men intercepted the patrol because it was not accompanied by the Lebanese Army, which escalated into a verbal clash and a fistfight between the two sides.”

“Lebanese Army troops later intervened and pacified the situation, prompting the UNIFIL patrol to leave the area and return to where it came from,” NNA added.

Such incidents have increased in recent weeks, with residents insisting that any UNIFIL patrol should be accompanied by Lebanese Army troops.

Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon frequently accuse the U.N. mission -- which was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after Israel’s 1978 invasion -- of collusion with Israel. Israel meanwhile accuses the peacekeepers of turning a blind eye to alleged Hezbollah military activities in southern Lebanon.

The incidents come amid unconfirmed reports that the U.S. and Israel are mulling to end the work of the U.N. force in south Lebanon through a U.S. veto against extending its mandate at the U.N. Security Council.