Rabat – A French soldier serving with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon was killed and three others wounded in an attack in the country’s south, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday, adding that “everything suggests” Hezbollah was responsible.
The Iran-backed group denied involvement.
The peacekeepers, part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), came under small-arms fire near the village of Ghandouriyeh, UNIFIL and French authorities said. One soldier, identified by Macron as staff sergeant Florian Montorio of the 17th Parachute Regiment, died of his injuries.
“Everything suggests that responsibility for this attack lies with Hezbollah,” Macron wrote on social media, calling on Lebanese authorities to arrest those responsible and ensure the safety of UNIFIL personnel.
UNIFIL said a patrol clearing explosive ordnance along a road was targeted by “non-state actors,” leaving one peacekeeper dead and three wounded, two of them seriously.
Hezbollah denied any role in the attack, urging caution in assigning blame before the Lebanese army completes its investigation. In a statement, the group expressed surprise at what it called “hasty accusations,” noting what it described as silence when “the Israeli enemy attacks UNIFIL forces.”
French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin said the soldier was killed in an ambush while attempting to reopen a route to an isolated UNIFIL post. “He was caught in an ambush by an armed group at very close range,” she wrote on X, adding that comrades were unable to revive him after he was struck by a direct shot.
The incident comes days after a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect, following months of fighting that left nearly 2,300 people dead in Lebanon and displaced more than one million, according to authorities.
Lebanon’s military tribunal has opened an investigation into the attack, judicial officials said, while Prime Minister Nawaf Salam ordered security agencies to identify and arrest those responsible. President Joseph Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri condemned the group.
The Lebanese army said it would continue coordinating closely with UNIFIL and was working to detain the perpetrators.
Macron, who spoke with Lebanese leaders following the attack, reiterated the need to uphold the ceasefire and stressed France’s commitment to Lebanon’s sovereignty and regional stability.
Separately, the Israeli military said it carried out air and ground strikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday, citing what it described as violations of the ceasefire by militants approaching areas near Israeli troops.
Senior Hezbollah official Mahmoud Qammati warned that the group would not tolerate continued Israeli strikes, saying, “This time we will not practice the strategic patience policy.”
The killings mark the second deadly attack on French forces in the region in recent weeks, following a March 12 drone strike in Iraq that killed a French officer.
