UNIFIL: Israeli Drone Falls Inside Mission Headquarters in Southern Lebanon

SadaNews - The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon ("UNIFIL") announced today, Wednesday, that an Israeli drone fell yesterday, Tuesday, inside the mission's headquarters in Naqoura, southern Lebanon, "without causing any harm to anyone."

The spokesperson for UNIFIL, Candice Ardiel, stated in a statement that "an Israeli drone fell yesterday (Tuesday) inside the UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura, southern Lebanon, and no one was injured."

Ardiel added that "peacekeepers specialized in explosive ordnance disposal immediately isolated the drone and secured its vicinity, and it was found that it was unarmed, equipped only with a camera."

She noted that the Israeli army later confirmed that the drone belonged to them.

She continued: "While peacekeeping forces are equipped and ready to take action against any threats to their safety in self-defense, this drone fell on its own."

It was mentioned that "as with all Israeli army drones and other aerial operations over southern Lebanon, this is a violation of Resolution 1701 and Lebanese sovereignty."

Ardiel emphasized that "UNIFIL takes any intervention or threat against its personnel, facilities, or operations very seriously and will formally protest this act."

She added that "despite these challenges, peacekeeping forces are working impartially and steadfastly to support security and stability in southern Lebanon, which ongoing violations continue to endanger."

On September 3rd of this year, UNIFIL announced that Israeli drones attacked its forces with four bombs, in what it described as the "most serious attack" since the ceasefire between Tel Aviv and "Hezbollah" began.

It clarified that this targeting occurred "while it was working to remove obstacles impeding access to a UN site near the Blue Line in southern Lebanon."

In October 2023, Israel launched an aggression against Lebanon, which escalated in September 2024 into a full-scale war that killed over 4,000 people and injured around 17,000 others.

Despite reaching a ceasefire agreement in 2024 between "Hezbollah" and Israel, the latter violated it more than 4,500 times, resulting in at least 276 martyrs and 613 injuries, according to official data.

In defiance of the agreement, Israel occupies 5 Lebanese hills that it took control of during the last war, in addition to other areas it has occupied for decades.