French UN peacekeepers come under Israeli fire

French troops serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) shot down an Israeli surveillance drone on Sunday near the southern Lebanese town of Kfar Kila, prompting a rapid and dangerous chain of events that saw Israeli forces drop a grenade and fire a tank round toward the peacekeepers’ position.

According to Le Figaro, a diplomatic source confirmed that “the decision to shoot down an Israeli drone in southern Lebanon was French.”

UNIFIL said the drone had “flown aggressively over one of its patrols”, prompting soldiers to take “necessary defensive countermeasures to neutralise the drone.” The troops involved were French, part of the roughly 700-strong French contingent operating with UNIFIL in southern Lebanon.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged losing one of its drones, saying in a statement that “an initial inquiry suggests that UNIFIL forces deliberately fired at the drone and downed it.”

IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said the aircraft’s activities “did not pose a threat to UNIFIL forces” and confirmed that Israeli troops dropped a grenade near the crash site, but maintained that “no fire was directed at UNIFIL.”

UNIFIL’s account differed sharply. The UN mission said a second Israeli drone dropped a grenade close to the same patrol, followed shortly by “an Israeli tank firing in the direction of the peacekeepers.”

No injuries were reported, but the United Nations called the incident “deeply concerning” and said it had raised the matter with Israel through established coordination channels. France’s foreign ministry also described the events as “dangerous and unacceptable.”

French forces, who last came under direct threat in southern Lebanon in 2022, are among the largest European contributors to UNIFIL.