Senior officers in the IDF’s Northern Command warned that UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, is increasingly acting against Israeli interests and exceeding its authority.
The warning came after a French unit of UNIFIL shot down an Israeli reconnaissance drone near the Lebanese village of Kila, across the border from Metula. The IDF denied UNIFIL’s claim that Israeli forces responded with tank fire and a grenade, calling the allegations “false and misleading.”
Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, said the drone “posed no threat” and was conducting “routine reconnaissance.”
A senior Northern Command officer told ynet that UNIFIL has strayed from its mission. “We encounter them documenting IDF forces instead of monitoring Hezbollah terrorists or the border,” he said. “They act as a foreign force doing suspicious and irregular things, beyond their mandate.”
Israeli officials said the French unit’s interception of the drone was unauthorized and appeared to be an attempt to “show relevance.” They warned that such actions could have endangered Israeli civilians near the border.
UNIFIL, which numbers about 13,000 soldiers from several countries, was established in 1978 and is mandated to help maintain stability along the Israel-Lebanon border. The UN Security Council recently extended its mission through 2026.
Israeli defense officials have long accused UNIFIL of turning a blind eye to Hezbollah’s military buildup in southern Lebanon, despite being tasked with enforcing UN Resolution 1701, which prohibits armed groups south of the Litani River.
Recent Israeli military operations have exposed a vast network of tunnels, weapons depots and observation posts used by Hezbollah near UN positions.
As the mission nears its scheduled withdrawal in 2027, Israeli officials warn that the peacekeepers’ conduct — and their growing friction with the IDF — risk undermining stability along the border.