BEIRUT: Lebanese authorities said Saturday that more than 25 people had been arrested following an attack on a United Nations convoy the day before that wounded two peacekeepers, including the force’s outgoing deputy commander.
UN and Lebanese officials have condemned Friday’s attack, which came as Hezbollah supporters for a second night blocked the road to the country’s only international airport over a decision barring two Iranian planes from landing there.
“More than 25 people have been arrested by Lebanese army intelligence,” with another person detained by the security services, Interior Minister Ahmad Al-Hajjar told reporters after an emergency security meeting Saturday.
“This does not mean these detainees carried out the attack... but the investigations will show who is responsible,” he said.
The army and security agencies would bolster measures to “maintain security and stability,” Hajjar added, and violations would be treated “with all seriousness.”
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has demanded an investigation after one of its vehicles was set on fire during the incident, which wounded outgoing deputy force commander Chok Bahadur Dhakal, a Nepalese national who was heading home after ending his mission.
UNIFIL deputy spokesperson Kandice Ardiel told AFP a second Nepalese peacekeeper was also wounded and hospitalized.
President Joseph Aoun vowed “the attackers will receive their punishment,” and said “security forces will not be lenient with any party that tries to upset stability and civil peace,” according to a statement from the presidency on X.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam strongly condemned the “criminal attack” and promised to arrest the perpetrators during a conversation with UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and UNIFIL Commander General Aroldo Lazaro.
In a meeting with Hajjar on Saturday, Salam emphasized the importance of maintaining security across the country, a statement from his office said. The premier was set to meet other “relevant ministers” later in the day.
The presidency’s statement said Aoun had stressed that the incident “cannot be allowed to be repeated,” adding that the judiciary “has begun investigations on the ground.”
The army said Friday that several areas around the airport had seen “demonstrations marked by acts of vandalism and clashes, including assaults on members of the armed forces and attacks against vehicles.”
Videos circulating on social media showed demonstrators, some hooded and carrying Hezbollah flags, attacking a man in military garb and another in civilian clothes near the torched UNIFIL vehicle.
It remains unclear who was responsible for the attack.
There was no immediate official comment from Hezbollah, but its television channel Al-Manar late Friday blamed unidentified “masked men.”
It said the protesters expressed “their rejection of the attack on the UNIFIL convoy,” adding their goal was “to secure the return of citizens stuck in Iran.”
The group’s ally the Amal movement, led by powerful parliament speaker Nabih Berri, said “the attack on UNIFIL is an attack on south Lebanon” and that “blocking roads anywhere is an assault on civil peace.”
Several countries have condemned the incident, as did UN chief Antonio Guterres.
“Such attacks are absolutely unacceptable... The safety and security of UN personnel and property must be respected at all times,” his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement.
“Attacks against peacekeepers are in breach of international law... and may constitute war crimes,” the statement said, adding that “UNIFIL must be allowed unrestricted freedom of movement throughout Lebanon.”
Israel has repeatedly accused Hezbollah of using Beirut airport to transfer weapons from Iran, claims Hezbollah and Lebanese officials have denied.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has a large popular base in Lebanon, though a year of hostilities with Israel and the ousting of its ally Bashar Assad in neighboring Syria have left the group weakened.
Lebanon’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation said Thursday it had “temporarily rescheduled” some flights, including from Iran, until February 18 as it was implementing “additional security measures.”
The date coincides with the deadline for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon and for Hezbollah to vacate positions there, under a ceasefire deal that began on November 27.
Lebanon says 25 arrested after attack on UN peacekeepers
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Lebanon says 25 arrested after attack on UN peacekeepers
- “More than 25 people have been arrested by Lebanese army intelligence,” with another person detained by the security services, Interior Minister Ahmad Al-Hajjar said
- A fragile ceasefire has been in place in Lebanon since November 27, after more than a year of hostilities and two of months of open war between Israel and Hezbollah there
Israeli Druze leader seeks US security guarantees for Syrian minority
- Washington needed to fulfill its “duty” to safeguard the rights of Syria’s minorities in order to encourage stability, said Tarif
- He stressed the need for self-determination, as well as rights and safety for all minorities
GENEVA: Israeli Druze leader Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif urged the United States to guarantee the security of the Druze community in Syria to prevent a recurrence of intense violence earlier this year in Sweida, a Druze-majority province.
Washington needed to fulfill its “duty” to safeguard the rights of Syria’s minorities in order to encourage stability, Tarif told Reuters on Tuesday during an official visit to the UN in Geneva, adding that US support would also remove the need for Israeli intervention in Syria’s south.
“We hope that the United States, President Trump, and America as a great power, we want it to guarantee the rights of all minorities in Syria ... preventing any further massacres,” he said.
US President Donald Trump vowed in November to do everything he can to make Syria successful after landmark talks with Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa.
BLOODY CLASHES IN JULY
The Druze are a minority group whose faith is an offshoot of Islam and have followers in Israel, Syria and Lebanon.
In July, clashes between Druze and Bedouin residents broke out in Sweida after tit-for-tat kidnappings, leading to a week of bloodletting that shattered generations of fragile coexistence.
The violence worsened when government forces dispatched to restore order clashed with Druze militiamen, with widespread reports of looting, summary killings and other abuses.
Israel entered the fray with encouragement from its Druze minority, attacking government forces with the stated aims of protecting Syrian Druze and keeping its borders free from militants.
Tens of thousands of people from both communities were uprooted, with the unrest all but ending the Bedouins’ presence across much of Sweida. In the aftermath, Druze leaders called for a humanitarian corridor from the Israeli-occupied Golan to Sweida and demanded self-determination, which the government rejects. ‘NEED TO REBUILD TRUST’
Asked about proposals by influential Druze Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hajjari to separate Sweida from Syria, Tarif stressed the need for self-determination, as well as rights and safety for all minorities.
It was inconceivable to ask the Druze to surrender their weapons, he said. Talks to bring Sweida’s former police force onto Damascus’ payroll — while allowing the Druze to retain wide local autonomy — had been making steady progress until July’s bloodshed derailed them.
Al-Sharaa, who led rebel factions that ousted former long-time leader Bashar Assad last December, has vowed to protect the Druze. However, Hajjari insists he poses an existential threat to his community and in September rejected a 13-point, US-brokered roadmap to resolve the conflict.
Asked if talks should be revived, Tarif said trust had to be rebuilt by allowing residents to return to their homes, and permitting full humanitarian access to Sweida.
“There is no trust today ... Trust must be rebuilt,” he said.
