The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is a peacekeeping mission in south Lebanon. (Credit: UNIFIL)

By Gary  Raynaldo        DIPLOMATIC   TIMES

France President Emmanuel Macron blamed militant group Hezbollah for the killing of a French peacekeeper in Lebanon. A peacekeeping force of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) came under attack while clearing mines from a road in the village of Ghandouriyeh in southern Lebanon. Staff Sergeant Florian Montorio, a UNIFIL soldier, was killed in the ambush. Three others were injured, two of them seriously, according to UNIFIL.  There has been intense fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah in the region. Israel and Lebanon had announced a 10-day ceasefire days before the attack.

“Everything suggests that responsibility for this attack lies with Hezbollah,” Macron wrote on social media. “France demands that the Lebanese authorities immediately arrest those responsible and assume their responsibilities alongside UNIFIL.”   Hezbollah denied involvement in the attack.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the deadly attack, his spokesperson said in a statement. “Attacks on peacekeepers must stop. They are grave violations of international humanitarian law and of Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006) and may amount to war crimes. All attacks on peacekeepers must be promptly investigated and those responsible must be effectively prosecuted and held accountable,” said the statement issued by spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

The attack came just three weeks after three Indonesian UNIFIL peacekeepers were killed in separate incidents in southern Lebanon. Two peacekeepers were killed in a roadside explosion that destroyed their vehicle. Another soldier was killed when a projectile exploded near one of the group’s position.