The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported that a peacekeeper was killed when a projectile exploded at one of its positions near the southern Lebanese village of Adchit al-Qusayr on Sunday, Reuters reported.
Another peacekeeper was critically injured, it said in a statement early on Monday.
"We do not know the origin of the projectile. We have launched an investigation to determine all of the circumstances," UNIFIL added.
UNIFIL is stationed in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the demarcation line with Israel, an area that is at the heart of clashes between Israeli troops and the Hezbollah terrorist organization.
UNIFIL was established in 1978 to serve as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon and continued operations after Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000.
The mission, which will be halted at the end of 2026, has been sporadically caught in the crosshairs of both Israel and Hezbollah over the last several years. Recent incidents underscored the risks.
On March 6, Ghana's armed forces said the headquarters of its UN peacekeeping battalion in Lebanon was hit by missile attacks, leaving two soldiers critically injured.
The IDF later acknowledged that its tank fire had hit a UN position in southern Lebanon that day, wounding the Ghanaian peacekeepers.
The IDF explained its troops had responded to anti-tank missile fire from Hezbollah, which had moderately wounded two of its soldiers.
In October of 2024, the IDF revealed that approximately 25 rockets and missiles had been launched at Israeli communities and IDF troops from Hezbollah’s terrorist compounds embedded near UNIFIL posts in southern Lebanon, exploiting their proximity to UN forces. One of the attacks resulted in the deaths of two IDF soldiers.
As a result of these attacks, the IDF conducted strikes near UNIFIL posts, making sure to warn the peacekeepers beforehand and requesting that they vacate the posts. Nevertheless, UNIFIL accused Israel of deliberately targeting its peacekeepers.