War in the Middle East: what is UNIFIL, one member of which was killed and several others injured?

A perilous presence. Several peacekeepers were injured during an “incident” in a border town in southern Lebanon, where clashes pit Hezbollah against the Israeli army as part of the conflict in the Middle East, we learned on Monday. This incident comes the day after the death of another Indonesian peacekeeper in southern Lebanon, killed by the explosion of a projectile whose origin is currently unknown. But what is UNIFIL, and why is it deployed in this area of ​​the Middle East?

In 1978, in the middle of the Lebanese War and after a first invasion of Israeli troops in the south of the country as part of Operation Litani, UNIFIL — United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon — was created by the Security Council. Deployed on the ground, the UN organization is responsible for “confirming the withdrawal of Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, restoring international security and helping the Lebanese government establish its effective authority in the region,” explains the UN. At that time, it had around 2,000 men.

In 2006, a new war broke out in southern Lebanon, pitting Hezbollah against Israel. The mission of UNIFIL was then extended to the “cessation of hostilities” and to support the “Lebanese armed forces as they were deployed throughout the South”, in order to maintain the buffer zone set up within the framework of resolution 1701. In this context, the strength of UNIFIL increased to 10,000 men.

More than 10,000 men

Today, UNIFIL still has more than 10,000 peacekeepers in Lebanon, from 48 different countries. In Europe, Italy is the main contributor, but France also has some 700 soldiers within the organization.

For members of UNIFIL, there is no question of attacking or carrying out intelligence operations. The Blue Helmets do not have heavy weapons or air assets. The soldiers are present on the “blue line”, drawn by the UN between Lebanon and Israel, and can only carry out defense operations.

However, they are regularly hit during offensives in the region. At the end of 2024, several peacekeepers were injured by shots attributed to the Israeli army. In 2022, a peacekeeper was also killed in southern Lebanon.