A U.N. peacekeeper removes a Hezbollah flag that residents of the village of Srifa (Sour district) had placed on his vehicle, accusing UNIFIL of patrolling without the Lebanese Army. (Credit: Screenshot from a video obtained by our correspondent Mountasser Abdallah)
The Israeli army on Saturday detained a shepherd on the outskirts of the village of Shebaa, in the Hasbaya district, according to our correspondent in southern Lebanon.
The shepherd was taken into the contested Shebaa Farms area, a disputed territory near the border between Syria, Lebanon and Israel, located just south of the village. The incident follows the detention of a fisherman, identified as Ali Fneich, by Israeli forces off the coast of Ras Naqoura (Sour) two days earlier.
While a fragile calm prevailed across southern Lebanon on Saturday morning, with drones observed flying over the districts of Saida and Nabatieh, tensions escalated in the afternoon. An Israeli drone dropped a sound bomb in the village of Houla, in the Marjayoun district, targeting a farmer, wounding him and damaging his agricultural tractor, the correspondent said. A second sound bomb was dropped shortly after between the villages of Houla, Markaba and Marjayoun.
UN peacekeepers confronted in Srifa
Separately, a U.N. peacekeeping patrol from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was once again stopped by residents — this time in the village of Srifa, in the Sour district.
According to our correspondent, the residents objected to the patrol’s movement without a Lebanese Army escort, a recurring point of tension. Video footage shows villagers attempting to place a Hezbollah flag on the patrol vehicle.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti issued a statement following the latest incident, saying that peacekeepers “were conducting a scheduled patrol coordinated with the Lebanese Army” and that “the peacekeepers were able to complete their planned mission after the army intervened.” As with similar incidents over the past two months, UNIFIL reiterated that its mandate includes “the right to move freely and conduct patrols — with or without the presence of the Lebanese Army.”
Under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, Article 12, UNIFIL is theoretically allowed to operate independently “in areas where its forces are deployed.” The force operates under Chapter VI of the U.N. Charter, which does not authorize the use of force to carry out its mandate. This point has become a subject of debate as UNIFIL’s mandate comes up for renewal in August.
In a separate interview with the Saudi-owned daily Asharq Al-Awsat, Tenenti described Thursday night’s Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs as “a dangerous development” that “not only escalates tensions, but could create a very dangerous situation in a region already suffering from 15 months of conflict.”
According to a preliminary damage assessment by the Hezbollah-affiliated Reconstruction Commission for the Beirut region, the strikes completely destroyed nine buildings, while 71 others, along with 50 vehicles and 177 institutions, were damaged.
