The deadly incident comes just days after Israel and Lebanon announced a 10-day ceasefire.
Published on 18 April 2026
A French soldier serving in the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon has been killed, and three others have been wounded in an attack that UNIFIL and French officials said was probably carried out by Hezbollah.
UNIFIL said on Saturday that three other members of the peacekeeping mission were wounded, two of them seriously, in the attack in the village of Ghandouriyeh in southern Lebanon.
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UNIFIL noted that initial assessments indicated they came from non-state actors, reportedly Hezbollah, and launched an investigation into what it called a “deliberate attack”.
In talks with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the “unacceptable attack”, his office said in a statement on Saturday.
Macron also said that the evidence so far points towards the Lebanese armed group and urged the Lebanese government to take action against those responsible.
The Iran-aligned armed group rejected the allegations, calling for “caution in issuing judgments regarding the incident”.
“We deny any connection to the incident that occurred with UNIFIL forces in the Ghandouriyeh area of Bint Jbeil,” Hezbollah said in a statement.
French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin said the patrol was ambushed while it was on a mission to open the way for a UNIFIL outpost that had been isolated by fighting in the area. The soldier died due to direct fire from small arms, he said.
The Lebanese army condemned the shooting and said it had launched an investigation.
President Aoun has also expressed condolences and ordered an immediate investigation, while Prime Minister Salaam condemned the attack.
fragile armistice
The deadly incidents occurred just days after the Israel-Lebanon 10-day ceasefire took effect and just days before the ceasefire in the United States-Israel war over Iran ended.
Lebanon joined the war in early March after Hezbollah fired rockets toward Israel in response to the US-Israeli assassination of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei on February 28. Israel responded with a devastating bombing campaign and ground offensive, killing more than 2,000 people and forcing more than 1.2 million others to flee their homes.
The announcement of the ceasefire in Lebanon was seen as a boost to efforts to reach a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran. Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah was a key issue at US-Iran talks last weekend in Islamabad.
It was unclear whether Hezbollah would abide by the cease-fire, and it played no role in the negotiations, especially since it leaves Israeli troops occupying a portion of southern Lebanon.
attacks on peacekeepers
UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, was first deployed to the border between Israel and Lebanon in 1978 and has remained in place through successive conflicts, including the 2024 war, during which its positions repeatedly came under fire.
Last month, two UN peacekeepers were killed amid Israeli ground attacks in southern Lebanon. UNFIL said they were killed when their vehicle was destroyed by an unknown explosion.
World leaders have condemned the increasing violence and attacks on peacekeepers.
Last month, in a post on X, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on all parties involved in the war to abide by international law and ensure the safety of all UN personnel.
Guterres said, “This is one of many recent incidents that threaten the safety of peacekeepers.”
