France Calls Emergency UN Meeting After Three Peacekeepers Killed in Southern Lebanon

Three Indonesian peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon were killed in southern Lebanon on March 29 and 30, 2026, prompting France to request an emergency session of the UN Security Council, scheduled for Tuesday, March 31, at 10:00 a.m. New York time (2:00 p.m. GMT). The first soldier died on Sunday, March 29, when a projectile of unknown origin struck near the border town of Adchit Al Qusayr. Two more Indonesian soldiers were killed on Monday, March 30, in an explosion of unknown origin that destroyed their vehicle near Bani Hayyan, with several others injured in the same incident. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced the emergency meeting request on the X platform, condemning the deaths in the strongest terms and expressing condolences to the families of the fallen and solidarity with Indonesia. The Israeli army stated it is investigating the incidents and urged observers not to assume its responsibility for the deaths.

French contingent faced three separate incidents on Saturday Separate from the fatal incidents, three confrontations between Israeli forces and the French contingent of UNIFIL occurred on Saturday, March 28, in the Naqoura area, causing no casualties but drawing sharp condemnation from Paris. That morning, Israeli soldiers stationed north of Naqoura pointed their weapons at UNIFIL Chief of Staff General Paul Sanzey and his assistant, both French nationals who were returning from Beirut, and ordered them to leave the area before allowing them to continue to Naqoura. Later in the day, soldiers of the Israeli Defense Forces opened fire on a UNIFIL logistics convoy on a resupply mission, which included French military personnel. In the late afternoon, the head of the Force Commander Reserve — a rapid reaction unit staffed by a Franco-Finnish battalion and under direct command of the UNIFIL commander — was targeted by an Israeli tank shot. Jean-Noël Barrot described these events as attacks on security and acts of intimidation, noting that deconfliction procedures had been respected at the time of each incident.

„These attacks on security and these intimidations by soldiers of the Israeli army against UN personnel are unacceptable and unjustifiable, especially since the deconfliction procedures had been respected.” — Jean-Noël Barrot via BFMTV

Barrot also summoned the Israeli ambassador in Paris and conveyed France's condemnations in what he described as the strongest terms.

UNIFIL caught in crossfire since Hezbollah drew Lebanon into war The deaths and confrontations unfolded against a backdrop of intensifying conflict in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah drew the country into the broader regional war on March 2, 2026. According to the latest figures cited in the source articles, Israeli strikes in Lebanon since that date have killed more than and left more than 3,600 injured. UNIFIL, composed of nearly 8,200 soldiers from 47 countries, has been caught in the crossfire between Israeli forces and the pro-Iranian Shiite group on multiple occasions since the conflict resumed. Jean-Noël Barrot called on all parties to respect UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and to guarantee the safety of UN personnel in accordance with international law and the Convention on the Safety of United Nations Personnel.

UNIFIL has operated in southern Lebanon since its establishment in March 1978. During the Israel-Hezbollah war in the autumn of 2024, UNIFIL had already accused Israeli troops of "repeated" and "deliberate" attacks on its positions, according to the source articles. The force is deployed between the Litani River and the Lebanese-Israeli border, with its headquarters at Ras al-Naqoura near the Israeli border.

UNIFIL incidents — March 28–31, 2026: — ; — ; — ; —

Israel investigates but resists attribution as pressure mounts The Israeli army acknowledged the incidents on Tuesday and said it is investigating, while cautioning against premature assumptions of responsibility for the deaths of the three Indonesian soldiers. The position leaves open the question of who fired the projectile that killed the first soldier near Adchit Al Qusayr and what caused the explosion that destroyed the vehicle near Bani Hayyan. UNIFIL itself stated that the origin of the projectile in the Sunday incident was not known and that an investigation had been opened to determine the circumstances. France's request for an emergency Security Council session reflected the urgency Paris attached to the situation, with Barrot calling for the full truth to be established regarding the circumstances of all three deaths. The Israeli prime minister has separately called on the Israeli army to expand its buffer zone in southern Lebanon in the face of Hezbollah, a posture that has placed UNIFIL forces in an increasingly precarious position on the ground.

47 (countries) — nations contributing troops to UNIFIL