2024-01-02 09:30:00
“We find ourselves in the heart of the shooting”: Captain Paul, a member of UNIFIL, is concerned about the clear deterioration of security in South Lebanon since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.
“We have gone from a relatively calm zone to a volatile zone where everything is very dependent on the slightest political declaration,” continues the captain in front of his patrol vehicle (VBL) painted white with the “UN” acronym clearly visible on the the Deir Kifa base, about ten kilometers from the border between Israel and Lebanon.
In this hilly area, exchanges of fire between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah, which claims to act to support Hamas, its ally, have been almost daily since the start of the war between the Palestinian Islamist movement and Israel in the Gaza Strip. .
French soldiers from the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) have since almost “doubled” their daily patrols there, from four to seven per day, according to the blue helmet officer in charge of base operations.
“It’s tense, there are shells falling every day, you can hear it, you are in a war atmosphere,” he adds while it is possible to hear the sound of gunfire in the distance. a drone, flying over the area.
The French forces, present in Lebanon since 1978, are among the main contributors to UNIFIL, with 700 men out of around 10,000.
Rocket fire, shells, drones, “what happened before over three to four years now happens in a week,” estimates the officer.
A potentially dangerous mission
Clashes in southern Lebanon are largely limited to border areas but Israel has carried out strikes deeper, up to twenty kilometers from the border, in recent days.
The French contingent’s mission “could potentially become very dangerous”, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu said on Monday at the base in front of around 700 soldiers before sharing a New Year’s meal with them.
Since October 7, clashes between Israel and Hezbollah have left nearly 160 dead on the Lebanese side, including more than 110 Hezbollah fighters.
On the Israeli side of the border, at least 13 people have been killed, including nine soldiers, since October 7.
“Our passage will be strewn with uncertainties in the weeks and days to come,” added the minister in front of the troops under a large tent set up as a banquet.
Avoid escalation
Paris wants to avoid any escalation on the Lebanese-Israeli border, and as such, Mr. Lecornu, like the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, have visited Lebanon several times in recent months.
Several worrying incidents which have actually affected UNIFIL have been identified in recent days.
On Thursday, the UN mission requested the opening of an investigation after an “attack on one of its patrols” in which a peacekeeper was injured in Taybé.
A second incident was reported by the official Lebanese agency against a patrol of the French contingent attacked “by a group of young men” in Kfar Kila, raising fears of an increase in incidents of this type.
Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israeli soil on October 7, killing around 1,140 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP count based on available official figures.
Israeli retaliatory strikes in the Gaza Strip left around 22,000 dead, mostly women, teenagers and children, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
02/01/2024 08:28:20 – Deir Kifa (Liban) (AFP) – © 2024 AFP
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