Israeli troops ‘fired near patrol of French soldiers’

The Telegraph:  United Nations and French peacekeepers have been targeted by Israeli forces in Lebanon, a French minister has said.

Sébastien Lecornu, France’s minister of Armed Forces, told French media that UNIFIL, United Nations interim force in Lebanon, soldiers had received “provocations and direct threats by Israeli tanks.”

“Just this week, the Israeli army fired near a patrol of French soldiers from UNIFIL on a route that had been declared as such,” he told French newspaper La Tribune Dimanche, published on Sunday.

“Israeli officials must understand that UNIFIL will remain. This week again, the Israeli army fired near a patrol of French soldiers.”

He added that they had asked the Israeli authorities for clarification.

Just last week, the French ministry of foreign affairs demanded answers from Israeli envoys after two incidents in which four UN peacekeepers, whose nationalities are unknown, were injured, with one requiring hospitalisation.

France - which has contributed nearly 700 troops to UNIFIL - called the incident a “deliberate” attack.

Responding to one of the incidents on X, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) issued a statement that said the incident occurred when its soldiers responded to a “threat” located some 50 metres from a UNIFIL post.

It added that the IDF “maintains routine communication with UNIFIL.”