A peacekeeper serving with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was killed and two others were wounded after mortar shells struck their position in southern Lebanon, the mission said Thursday.
In a statement, UNIFIL said the peacekeeper sustained critical injuries “when mortar shells struck his position near Marjayoun, southeastern Lebanon” late Wednesday night.
The injured peacekeeper was evacuated by air to a hospital in Beirut, where he later died from his wounds.
The mission said two other peacekeepers were also injured in the incident and are receiving treatment at a medical facility inside a UNIFIL base.
The peacekeeping force said it has launched an investigation “to ascertain the exact circumstances that led to this tragic incident.”
“UNIFIL has detected an increasingly high number of trajectories and impacts in South Lebanon. The violence must end,” the mission said.
Lebanon's Foreign Ministry condemned the attack that targeted a UNIFIL position near Marjayoun, identifing the deceased soldier as Sgt. Milovan Jovanovic of Serbia, born in 1989, citing the Serbian Defense Ministry.
It said attacks against peacekeepers carrying out their mission to maintain international peace and security constitute a “serious violation of international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions, particularly Resolution 1701,” which ended the war between Israel and Lebanon in 2006.
It said it was awaiting the outcome of an investigation into the attack and expressed solidarity with UNIFIL leadership, while wishing a speedy recovery to the two injured peacekeepers from El Salvador and Spain.
Lebanon and Israel agreed Wednesday to renew their fragile ceasefire and establish “pilot zones” placing the Lebanese army in exclusive territorial control, with all non-state actors excluded.
The agreement was announced in a joint statement released following a fourth round of US-mediated talks held at the State Department.
The US-sponsored talks followed weeks of near-daily Israeli strikes on Lebanon that have killed nearly 3,500 people since March 2, despite a ceasefire that took effect April 17 and later extended to early July.
