Lebanese army members and the United Nations peacekeepers (UNIFIL) stand near of what witnesses stated to be the UNIFIL vehicle that was carrying the Irish soldier who was killed on a U.N. peacekeeping Patrol, in Al-Aqbieh, south Lebanon December 15, 2022. (Credit: Aziz Taher/Reuters)
BEIRUT — An Irish soldier serving with the UN peacekeeping force in South Lebanon was killed on Wednesday night in an "incident" in Hezbollah-dominated village of al-Aaqbiya, United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL)'s spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told L'Orient Today on Thursday morning.
Three other peacekeepers were injured in the same incident, one of whom is in critical condition.
Here is what we know so far:
Sequence of events
• Late on Wednesday, a convoy of two armored utility vehicles carrying eight personnel to Beirut came under "small arms fire," according to the Irish Defense Forces.
• According to Ireland's Foreign Affairs and Defense Minister Simon Coveney, the two vehicles were separated from each other for an unknown reason. Only one vehicle was involved in the incident.
• The UNIFIL soldiers were on what Coveney said is considered a standard run from UNIFIL's area of operations in South Lebanon to Beirut when the incident occurred.
• Before a meeting of the Security Council at the UN, Coveney told journalists that a "crowd attacked the [UNIFIL] vehicle," and shots were fired.
• Bassam Jaafar, the mokhtar (a local official responsible for records) of the village in which the incident took place, told L'Orient Today that residents tried to stop the UNIFIL vehicle because, according to him, peacekeeper convoys are "not allowed in the village but only on main routes."
• Jaafar said the UNIFIL vehicle attempted to escape the locals and, in the process, hit and injured one of the village's residents. Jaafar said shots were then fired but said the origin of the shots is unknown. "Let the security forces investigate the matter," the mokhtar said.
• An AFP photographer reported seeing a UNIFIL vehicle in the village of al-Aaqbiya hit a store on a road leading to Saida, some 40km south of Beirut.
• According to witnesses interviewed by AFP, the armed vehicle was intercepted by locals while driving along a coastal road not usually used by peacekeepers. The driver appeared to lose control of the vehicle while trying to flee the area, they said. Witnesses reported hearing gunfire.
Death and injuries
• The victim, 23 years old, died from a bullet to the head when seven projectiles pierced his vehicle, a Lebanese judicial source told AFP on Thursday afternoon.
• According to Coveney, one of three injured soldiers remains in critical condition.
• "The other two soldiers are being treated for minor injuries," he added. The remaining four personnel from the convoy, who were in the second vehicle, "were not injured and are safe and accounted for."
• The three soldiers were injured when the vehicle hit a pylon and overturned, the Lebanese judicial source said.
Three investigations
• UNIFIL's spokesperson said that "at the moment, details are sparse and conflicting. We are coordinating with the Lebanese Armed Forces, and have launched an investigation to determine exactly what happened."
• Coveney promised three investigations to be conducted on this incident: one led by Ireland, one by the United Nations and a third by Lebanon.
• UNIFIL forces were deployed at the scene on Thursday morning, along with Lebanese Army soldiers, who confiscated surveillance cameras, according to AFP. Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister and Defense Minister assured Coveney that the Lebanese authorities "will cooperate fully" with the Irish investigation.
Hezbollah denies involvement
• A senior Hezbollah official on Thursday denied the party's involvement in the "unintentional incident" that occurred in a Hezbollah-dominated area and asked that the party not be "inserted" into the incident.
• Earlier Thursday, after exiting Parliament's presidential election session, Hezbollah MP Ali Fayad said that "everyone has an interest in the stability of the south."
• Attacks on UNIFIL soldiers are not unusual during the patrol of convoys in South Lebanon, though they rarely result in fatalities. This is the first time a UNIFIL peacekeeper has been killed since January 2015, when a Spanish soldier was killed by Israeli army fire during an escalation of violence on the border between Israel and Hezbollah.