BBC joins French troops on Lebanon peacekeeping operation

The BBC has been given rare access to an operation by French troops, part of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon known as Unifil, as they searched for positions that were used by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah to carry out attacks against Israel.

As part of a ceasefire reached in November that ended 13 months of conflict, Hezbollah agreed to remove its fighters and weapons from southern Lebanon. Under the deal, the Lebanese army would deploy thousands of soldiers to the area, while Israel would withdraw troops that had invaded the country during the war.

According to Kandice Ardial, Unifil deputy spokesperson, the main violations of the deal are “from the Israeli side”. She mentioned frequent Israeli air strikes, constant infiltrations of Lebanese air space by Israeli drones and fighter jets, as well as the presence of Israeli soldiers in five points inside Lebanon.

Israel says it is attacking Hezbollah members and positions and that the presence of its soldiers is to guarantee the security of northern Israeli communities. The Lebanese government says this is a breach of the agreement and a violation of the country’s sovereignty, and has urged the international community to put pressure on Israel to withdraw its troops from those locations and stop its attacks.