UNIFIL says small arms fire hit border post near Kfar Shouba
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon says one of its positions near Kfar Shouba was hit by several rounds of small arms fire on Wednesday morning. The incident took place along the Blue Line, the UN-drawn border between Lebanon and Israel, and no casualties were reported. UNIFIL said it is investigating what happened.
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In a statement, the peacekeeping mission said the fire targeted a UNIFIL position and described the attack as deliberate. It said such incidents put peacekeepers at risk, but did not identify who was responsible. The force has not said whether the shots came from the Lebanese side, the Israeli side, or from another source in the area.
The episode comes at a sensitive moment for the mission, which has operated in southern Lebanon for decades. UNIFIL was created after Israel's 1978 invasion of southern Lebanon and later expanded after the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. It currently has about 7,500 peacekeepers from around 50 countries, and its role has long been tied to keeping a buffer along the frontier.
The mission's future has also been under discussion. The UN Security Council decided earlier this year to set December 31 as the end of UNIFIL's mandate, after pressure from the United States and Israel. Israel has repeatedly accused the force of failing to stop threats from Hezbollah and has pushed for its end since cross-border fighting intensified after the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel and the war in Gaza.
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Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has meanwhile urged the UN to avoid a vacuum in the south if the mission leaves without a replacement. The supporting agreement later described by the parties includes the disarmament of Hezbollah, a gradual Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, and the deployment of the Lebanese army in pilot zones. Those arrangements underline why any incident near the Blue Line is closely watched by both sides and by the UN.
It remains unclear who fired the shots and whether the incident was linked to the wider tensions along the border. UNIFIL has said only that it is investigating, and no further details have been released. The next developments to watch are any findings from the mission, any response from Lebanese or Israeli authorities, and whether the episode affects the already fragile security environment along the frontier.
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