BEIRUT: The Lebanese army has arrested six people after gunmen attacked UN peacekeepers patrolling in the south of the country, the military said on Saturday.

The UN force, known as UNIFIL, had reported that six men riding on three mopeds opened fire on a patrol vehicle on Thursday without hurting anyone.

Saturday’s statement said the army’s intelligence directorate had followed up on the attack and arrested six Lebanese suspects.

The army said it would not tolerate attacks on UNIFIL, which it said carries out an important stabilising role south of the Litani river, near the Israeli border.

UNIFIL peacekeepers have been tasked with acting as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon since March 1978, and with monitoring the November 2024 ceasefire that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

Security Council delegation urges all sides to stick to truce

The truce was supposed to see Israeli forces withdraw from Lebanon and refrain from attacks while the Iran-backed group is disarmed.

But Hezbollah is resisting those efforts, and in recent weeks Israel has stepped up its ongoing strikes, accusing the group of trying to build its forces.

UNIFIL has also recently complained of Israeli forces firing at or near its peacekeepers.

On Wednesday, direct discussions were held for the first time in decades between Israeli and Lebanese civilian officials under the auspices of a ceasefire monitoring mechanism.

UN Security Council appeal

A United Nations Security Council delegation on Saturday urged all parties to uphold a year-old ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, expressing support for a state weapons monopoly at the end of a Lebanon visit.

A November 2024 ceasefire was supposed to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, but Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon.

Israel has mainly said it is targeting the Iran-backed group, and has maintained troops in five south Lebanon areas it deems strategic.

“We came to Beirut at a pivotal time for the implementation of… the cessation of hostilities agreement of November of last year,” Slovenian UN ambassador Samuel Zbogar, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the UN body, told reporters.

“All parties must uphold the November 2024 cessation of hostilities agreement, and we recognise progress achieved by Lebanon this year,” he said.

“We reaffirm the council’s support for Lebanon’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence. We also reaffirm commitment to the full implementation of Resolution 1701 in support of Lebanon’s — as well as regional — security and stability,” he added, referring to a 2006 Security Council decision that forms the basis of the current truce.

Under heavy US pressure and fears of expanded Israeli strikes, Lebanon’s government has committed to disarming Hezbollah, and the army is set to dismantle the group’s military infrastructure near the border by year end before tackling the rest of the country.

“We support the Lebanese government’s decision to ensure the state’s monopoly of arms,” Zbogar said, also urging “intensified international support” for Lebanon’s army.

The delegation met senior officials including President Joseph Aoun, and on Saturday went to conflict-hit south Lebanon near the Israeli border, visiting peacekeepers from the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

In August, the Security Council voted to extend UNIFIL’s mandate until the end of 2026 and then withdraw the force from Lebanon by the end of the following year.

The visit was a chance to “examine options for the implementation of Resolution 1701 following UNIFIL’s departure from Lebanon”, Zbogar said, adding that “this is a topic that will deserve a thorough conversation during 2026”.

Zbogar also emphasised that the “safety of peacekeepers must be respected and that they must never be targeted”, after Lebanon’s army said it arrested six people following an attack by gunmen on UNIFIL personnel this week.

Aoun told the delegation on Friday that Lebanon does not want war with Israel, days after civilian representatives from both sides held their first talks in decades.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2025