Lebanese army arrests six after gunmen attack UN peacekeepers in south

Arrests made aft President Aoun met UNSC delegation, which volition sojourn southbound to get ‘real picture’ of what is going on.

The Lebanese service arrested six radical aft gunmen attacked planetary peacekeepers patrolling successful the southbound of the country, arsenic a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) delegation was to embark connected a sojourn to the zone.

The service said successful a connection connected Saturday that its quality directorate had detained six Lebanese suspects successful transportation with Thursday’s attack, which saw six men riding connected 3 mopeds opening occurrence connected a UN peacekeepers’ patrol conveyance without hurting anyone.

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It said it would not tolerate attacks connected UNIFIL, arsenic the UN unit is called. For astir 5 decades, its peacekeepers person acted arsenic a buffer betwixt Israel and Lebanon, with further monitoring of a ceasefire struck successful November past twelvemonth betwixt Israel and Lebanese equipped radical Hezbollah.

The arrests were made aft Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met a visiting UNSC delegation connected Friday, signalling that its members would beryllium embarking connected a circuit of confederate Lebanon to cheque “the concern connected the ground”.

Aoun said the delegation’s travel southbound would assistance it to “see the existent representation of what is happening there”, aft discussions connected escalating tensions with Israel and the army’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah.

Last year’s truce was expected to spot Israeli forces withdrawing from Lebanon arsenic Hezbollah disarmed. However, Israeli forces proceed to inhabit astatine slightest 5 positions wrong Lebanese territory and person conducted near-daily attacks crossed Lebanon that person killed much than 300 people, according to the UN.

Israel claims its operations are targeting Hezbollah members and infrastructure to forestall the equipped radical from rebuilding its subject capabilities, but it has killed dozens of civilians successful its attacks and destroyed residential buildings and captious infrastructure. UNIFIL has besides precocious complained of Israeli forces firing astatine oregon adjacent its peacekeepers.

The UNSC sojourn to the state comes amid tentative signs of imaginable deeper engagement betwixt Lebanon and Israel, with the brace holding nonstop discussions connected Wednesday nether the auspices of a ceasefire monitoring mechanism.

Aoun told UNSC delegates connected Friday that his state had “adopted the enactment of negotiations with Israel” and that “there is nary going back.”

But the archetypal signs of engagement successful decades angered Hezbollah, which said Lebanon had offered Israel a “free concession” that would not halt the attacks.