European Forum

Clashes between Lebanese residents and UN peacekeepers

In recent months tensions have been growing between UN peacekeepers and residents of southern Lebanon, a stronghold of the militant Hezbollah group. In the latest of several recent incidents. on 3 July villagers threw stones at a French peacekeeping patrol and tried to seize their weapons. The patrol leader was slightly injured. Lebanese troops later restored calm.

The incident happened after the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) troops arrested a young man in the village of Kabrikha, near the border with Israel. Local resentment towards the UNIFIL presence in the region was echoed by one woman who said that what the peacekeepers did was not acceptable and that local people have their own resistance in the area to protect them. “This is a message to Israel that we are brave here and can defend ourselves,” the woman added.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on 2 July that Israel's allegations that Hezbollah had received Scud missiles from Syria had "resulted in increased tension" in the region. Syria has rejected the missile allegation. Ban's latest report to the U.N. Security Council on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701, which halted hostilities in the Israeli-Hezbollah war in 2006, said there was reason for "doubt on the motives of those (civilians) involved" in some of the recent confrontations with UNIFIL. Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem denied the group was linked to the confrontations, saying they were the result of a lack of coordination between UNIFIL and the Lebanese army.

The peacekeepers’ mission is to oversee the ceasefire that ended the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. But while Hezbollah accuses UNIFIL of overstepping its mandate, Israel claims the peacekeepers are failing to prevent Hezbollah re-arming.

Sources: Reuters; Euronews