Armored vehicles belonging to the French contingent of UNIFIL on July 8, 2025, at a Lebanese Army base in Sour, southern Lebanon. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L'Orient-Le Jour)
On Monday evening, the verdict in the case of the murder of Irish U.N. peacekeeper Sean Rooney — killed on Dec. 14, 2022, in an attack on a UNIFIL vehicle in Akbieh, southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh district — was finally delivered.Lebanon’s military justice sentenced Mohammad Ayad to death in absentia in a case in which Hezbollah was accused of involvement. Three other Irish soldiers who were in the same vehicle were injured.Nearly 10 days after the attack, Hezbollah handed over to the authorities Ayad, suspected of being the “main” perpetrator of the assault. Dig deeper Why is hostility toward UNIFIL on the rise? The case was referred to the military tribunal, and the main accused was detained for a year without trial before being released “for health reasons” in November 2023, according to a judicial official.Two years later, the...
On Monday evening, the verdict in the case of the murder of Irish U.N. peacekeeper Sean Rooney — killed on Dec. 14, 2022, in an attack on a UNIFIL vehicle in Akbieh, southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh district — was finally delivered.Lebanon’s military justice sentenced Mohammad Ayad to death in absentia in a case in which Hezbollah was accused of involvement. Three other Irish soldiers who were in the same vehicle were injured.Nearly 10 days after the attack, Hezbollah handed over to the authorities Ayad, suspected of being the “main” perpetrator of the assault. Dig deeper Why is hostility toward UNIFIL on the rise? The case was referred to the military tribunal, and the main accused was detained for a year without trial before being released “for health reasons” in November 2023, according to a judicial official.Two years...
