A mortar shell fired by Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists hit a UNIFIL position and killed a U.N. peacekeeper in southeastern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces said on Thursday.
“Overnight, the IDF identified several launches in the area of Al-Qatrani carried out by the Hezbollah terrorist organization that landed inside a UNIFIL force position in the Dibbine area in Southern Lebanon,” the military said in a statement. “As a result of the launches, a U.N. personnel member was killed, and two others were injured.”
The IDF said that its examination of the mortar shell’s trajectory “clearly indicates” that it was fired by Hezbollah.
“Hezbollah’s launches endanger international forces and also harm U.N. personnel operating in the area,” the army said.
❗️ Hezbollah launched mortar shells that hit a UNIFIL position and killed a UN personnel member in southern Lebanon
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 4, 2026
Overnight, Hezbollah launched several mortar shells that landed inside a UNIFIL force position in the Dibbine area in southern Lebanon—killing a UN personnel… pic.twitter.com/vQ3YnnNWZZ
Earlier on Thursday, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon confirmed that one peacekeeper had succumbed to his wounds after being airlifted to a Beirut hospital.
“UNIFIL has launched an investigation to ascertain the exact circumstances that led to this tragic incident,” the force stated, without mentioning Hezbollah or the IDF.
“Deliberate attacks on peacekeepers are grave violations of international humanitarian law and of Security Council Resolution 1701, and may amount to war crimes,” UNIFIL noted.
Media reports identified the slain peacekeeper as a Serbian national. The two other casualties are Spanish citizens, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez confirmed.
In April, Israel and French President Emmanuel Macron blamed Hezbollah after a French soldier was killed and three others were wounded in an attack on a U.N. peacekeeping post in Southern Lebanon.
“Everything suggests that responsibility for this attack lies with Hezbollah. France demands that the Lebanese authorities immediately arrest the perpetrators,” Macron stated.
UNIFIL said in a statement that a peacekeeping unit clearing explosive ordnance along a road in the village of Ghandouriyah, west of the Israeli border town of Metula, to reestablish links with isolated UNIFIL positions “came under small-arms fire from non-state-actors.”
UNIFIL condemned the attack and said that initial assessments also pointed at Hezbollah as the perpetrator.
