A UNIFIL tank next to a portrait of Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah on patrol in the border village of Shebaa in southern Lebanon, on July 28, 2020. (Credit: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
BEIRUT — Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said Thursday that he “rejects any form of aggression" against the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), in reference to an altercation the day before between UN peacekeepers and a group of residents of the southern village of Shaqra.
Here’s what we know:
• After a phone call with Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Bou Habib said that "Lebanon welcomes the role of the UNIFIL in general, and of the Finnish contingent in particular"adding that it "respects the UN agreements including the 1701", in reference to UN agreement in 2006 which established a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel after the July war.
• The incident took place a day after a visit by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to the southern border region of Lebanon, where the UNIFIL forces were deployed.
• A video circulating in several media outlets shows a patrol of the Finnish contingent of UNIFIL stopped by residents of Shaqra as they passed through the village. A group of people can be seen throwing stones at the UNIFIL vehicles. The Lebanese army then intervened to protect the UN soldiers and de-escalate tensions.
• According to Al-Akhbar newspaper, the residents were irked that the UN troops allegedly "filmed houses without being accompanied by the [Lebanese] army.”