UN Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemned the most recent fatal attack on the Blue Helm mission in Lebanon. According to Guterres’ spokesperson, the attack that took place on Saturday resulted in the death of a French soldier and injured three others. Preliminary assessments from Unifil indicate that the peacekeepers came under fire from non-state actors, who are presumed to be the Hezbollah. The incident occurred while the troops were investigating a location where what was reported to be suspected improvised explosive devices had been planted on a road situated between two United Nations positions in the deployment area of South Lebanon. This marks the third such incident in recent weeks to result in the death of a peacekeeping soldier deployed with Unifil, and it happened despite the ten-day ceasefire announced on April 16th.
Furthermore, Guterres appealed to all parties involved to respect the cessation of hostilities and to cease firing. He also emphasized that they must adhere to their international legal obligations, ensuring the safety of UN personnel and guaranteeing the inviolability of UN property and assets at all times. Attacks against the peacekeepers must stop.