The Lebanese army has arrested six suspects after gunmen opened fire on a United Nations peacekeeping patrol in southern Lebanon, an incident that occurred just ahead of a visit by a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) delegation.
In a statement on Saturday, the army said its intelligence directorate detained six Lebanese nationals involved in Thursday’s attack, during which six armed men on three mopeds shot at a UNIFIL vehicle. No peacekeepers were injured.
The military stressed it “will not tolerate” assaults on UNIFIL, which has served as a buffer between Lebanon and Israel for nearly five decades and now oversees a tense ceasefire reached last November between Israel and Hezbollah.
The arrests came shortly after Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met members of the visiting UNSC delegation on Friday. The delegation is set to tour southern Lebanon to assess the security situation firsthand amid rising tensions and ongoing discussions over Hezbollah’s disarmament.
Aoun said the visit would allow delegates to “see the real picture,” noting that Israeli forces still occupy at least five positions inside Lebanese territory and continue conducting near-daily strikes that the UN says have killed more than 300 people. Israel claims its operations target Hezbollah fighters and infrastructure, though many civilians have been killed and homes destroyed. UNIFIL has also recently accused Israeli forces of firing near its patrols.
he UNSC visit comes as Lebanon and Israel engage in rare direct talks under the ceasefire monitoring mechanism. Aoun said Lebanon has chosen “the option of negotiations” and that “there is no going back.” Hezbollah, however, condemned the move, calling it a “free concession” to Israel that would not stop the attacks.
Source: Aljazeera