Israeli army drops unknown chemicals on southern Lebanon: UNIFIL
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has issued a statement saying the Israeli army dropped an unknown chemical substance on agricultural lands in southern Lebanon on Sunday.
Peacekeepers could not perform normal operations near the Blue Line, which demarcates the de facto border between Israel, Lebanon and the occupied Golan Heights, for more than nine hours, UNIFIL said.
“This is not the first time that the [Israeli army] has dropped unknown chemical substances from airplanes over Lebanon,” it added. Such activity is “unacceptable and contrary to resolution 1701”, which ended hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006.
Additionally, it potentially put the health of UNIFIL troops and that of civilians at risk, the statement added. Israeli forces said they dropped a “non-toxic chemical substance”, but UNIFIL forces supported the Lebanese army in collecting samples that would be tested for toxicity.
Israel’s actions in southern Lebanon since it entered into a de facto state of war with Hezbollah in October 2023 have been described as ecocide, the practice of deliberate environmental damage and destruction.
Lebanon will never be dragged into new conflict, PM says after Hezbollah comments
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam made these remarks after Hezbollah warned any attack on Iran would be an attack on the group, adding that the Lebanese group’s decision to enter the war in Gaza in support of its ally Hamas had “very big” consequences for Lebanon.
“We will never allow anyone to drag the country into another adventure,” Salam said during the World Governments Summit in Dubai, in response to a question about comments made by Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem last week.
Qassem had responded to US threats of military action against Iran, saying: “We will choose at that time how to act … but we are not neutral.”
More than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, which largely ended with a November 2024 ceasefire, badly weakened the group. The government has begun implementing a plan to disarm it starting in the south, one of its main traditional strongholds.
In January, Lebanon’s army said it had completed the first phase of its plan to disarm Hezbollah, covering the area south of the Litani River, about 30km (20 miles) from the Israeli border.
Israel, which accuses Hezbollah of rearming, has repeatedly attacked Lebanon, violating the ceasefire.
UN peacekeepers report ‘unacceptable’ Israeli behaviour in southern Lebanon
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) says two Israeli drones hovered aggressively above its peacekeepers during their routine patrol near Kfar Kila, before dropping a stun grenade 50 metres (164 feet) from the UN forces.
“Fortunately, no one was hurt, and the patrol continued,” the UNIFIL statement said after this morning’s incident, which it said crossed the Blue Line in violation of Security Council resolution 1701.
“Such use of armed drones is unacceptable. We reiterate to the [Israeli army] its obligation to respect the Blue Line, ensure the safety of peacekeepers, and cease attacks on or near them,” UNIFIL said.
“Such [Israeli military] action is in violation of resolution 1701 and international law and interferes with peacekeepers’ Security Council-mandated tasks and puts efforts to rebuild stability along the Blue Line at risk,” the statement concluded.
