South Lebanon’s Shiites Clash with French Peacekeepers – A Hezbollah Strategy?

A series of clashes in southern Lebanon between peacekeeping troops of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and local residents have raised concerns that hostilities may escalate along the Israeli-Lebanese border. Tensions have been running high in the Levant since Israel accused Syria in April of providing Hezbollah with Scud missiles (see Terrorism Monitor, April 23). The Lebanese army reportedly plans to send between 3,000 and 5,000 more soldiers to southern Lebanon to maintain the calm (The Daily Star [Beirut], July 9). France, a major contributor to UNIFIL, has also called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting in order to reaffirm both UNIFIL’s freedom of movement and Security Council Resolution 1701, which set the conditions for ending the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. 

The most recent exchange between UNIFIL soldiers and residents of southern Lebanon occurred last week when civilians – outraged after UNIFIL arrested a local youth – attacked two vehicles belonging to the French contingent near the village of Kabrikha (Press TV [Tehran], July 4). The patrol was attacked a second time in the village of Tuline. Locals reportedly punctured the vehicles’ tires, smashed the windows and attempted to seize mounted weapons, despite warning shots being fired by the soldiers. UNIFIL reinforcements and Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) subsequently intervened, recovering stolen weapons and restoring peace (Jerusalem Post, July 3). The incident came several days after another UNIFIL patrol was attacked during a “maximum deployment exercise” (Ya Libnan, July 7).

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