UN peacekeeper killed, three wounded in south Lebanon shooting, Unifil says

A French UN peacekeeper stands beside an armored vehicle at his base, waiting to move with his unit for a patrol along the Lebanese-Israeli border in Deir Kifa, southern Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A United Nations peacekeeper was killed and ​three others wounded after a Unifil patrol ‌came under small-arms fire while clearing explosive ordnance along a road in the southern Lebanese village of ​Ghandouriyeh, the peacekeeping mission said on Saturday.

Two ​of the wounded peacekeepers were seriously injured, ⁠it said.

Unifil said initial assessments indicated the ​fire came from non-state actors, allegedly Hezbollah, and ​that an investigation had been launched into what it described as "a deliberate attack."

France's President Emmanuel Macron said earlier a French ​soldier serving with the United Nations Interim ​Force in Lebanon (Unifil) had been killed in the attack ‌and ⁠blamed Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah, urging Lebanese authorities to act against those responsible.

Lebanon's army condemned the shooting and said it had opened an investigation, ​while President ​Joseph Aoun ⁠offered condolences over the killing and ordered an immediate probe. Prime ​minister Nawaf Salam also condemned the attack.

Unifil ​first ⁠deployed in 1978 and has remained through successive conflicts, including a 2024 war during which its ⁠positions ​came under fire repeatedly.