Army resumes patrols with UNIFIL in south Lebanon

BEIRUT — On Tuesday, the Lebanese Army Command decided to resume patrolling the area south of the Litani River in coordination with UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon). Its troops’ operations were suspended three days ago when the two forces’ joint patrol came under fire from Israel, close to Aita al-Shaab, in Bint Jbeil district.

UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told L'Orient-Le Jour that on March 9, small-arms gunfire coming from the south of the Blue Line — a UN-drawn temporary border between Israel and Lebanon — hit a Lebanese Army vehicle. “Fortunately, no one was injured,” Tenenti said, adding that UNIFIL is examining whether the patrol was being specifically targeted

A source close to the army told L’Orient-Le Jour that the gunfire hit the military vehicle "probably by mistake." OLJ also learned from this source that the army's Commander-in-Chief, General Joseph Aoun, who met his UNIFIL counterpart Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz on Monday, considered it preferable to resume patrols, in particular to "reassure the inhabitants."

According to a European diplomatic source, these patrols, which have been reduced to a strict minimum since the start of cross-border fighting in southern Lebanon in October, are vital to the army’s agenda, as the military institution has been trying from the outset to demonstrate “neutrality” in the conflict — distinguishing itself from Hezbollah and its actions.