Members of the Lebanese army and the Italian contingent of the UNIFIL peacekeeping force inspect a house destroyed by an Israeli attack during a patrol in Yarin on June 10, 2024.
NPR’s Diego Ibarra Sanchez
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NPR’s Diego Ibarra Sanchez
ALMACHAB, Lebanon — United Nations vehicles rumbled down a deserted road in southern Lebanon, past abandoned villages, destroyed homes and burned and blackened farmland — the result of daily attacks along the border with Israel Remnants, now these attacks have the potential to escalate into all-out war.
For much of the past nine months since the war in Gaza began, Israel and Lebanon have limited border attacks mainly to military targets within a few miles of either side of the historic ceasefire line. But recently, attacks from both sides have been escalating, extending further into Lebanon and Israel, raising concerns about an intensification of fighting.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, which was established after Israel invaded the neighboring country in 1978, is effectively in the middle of this confrontation. Although its name suggests that UNIFIL is temporary, it has become one of the longest-serving peacekeeping missions in the world.
UNIFIL recently took National Public Radio on a patrol along the Blue Line. Occasional roars indicate daily artillery and rocket attacks since Mas.
“The situation is indeed quite unstable right now,” said Capt. Alessandro Crepi, commander of the infantry company of UNIFIL’s Italian contingent, one of the largest participants in the mission.
The view from a UNIFIL armored vehicle shows the devastation caused by the conflict in Lebanon.
NPR’s Diego Ibarra Sanchez
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United Nations soldiers, alone or together with the Lebanese army, conduct regular patrols along the de facto border, monitoring ongoing violations of the 2006 United Nations ceasefire agreement. The agreement, drawn up after 34 days of war between Israel and Hezbollah, established a demilitarized zone along the Blue Line. Violations will be reported to the United Nations Security Council.
The attack on Israel was carried out by Hezbollah and its allies, not the Lebanese army. But under the U.N. plan – which envisages Lebanese government forces, rather than Iran-backed Hezbollah, guarding Lebanese borders – UNIFIL will deal only with Lebanese government forces.
The arrangement meant that, in the run-up to the October war, while peacekeepers were still hosting indirect talks between Israeli and Lebanese military officials at UNIFIL bases, the Lebanese army would deliver Israeli messages to Hezbollah and vice versa. Lebanon and Israel have no diplomatic relations and officials do not speak to each other.
These trilateral meetings around the U-shaped table – with only the UNIFIL official sitting at the end – came to an abrupt halt as the war began. Lebanon has experienced severe political, security and economic crises for much of the past few decades. Military analysts say Hezbollah, which was formed to fight the Israeli army after Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, is stronger and more sophisticated than the Lebanese army.
“What we do is maintain relations with both sides,” said Lieutenant Colonel Bruno Viot, a member of the UNIFIL contingent, referring to Lebanon and Israel. “We must work to continue de-escalating the situation to avoid any form of escalation and provide diplomats with the opportunity to reach a ceasefire.”
A UNIFIL member of the Italian contingent observes Israeli positions from a watchtower inside a base along the Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel.
NPR’s Diego Ibarra Sanchez
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UNIFIL also carries out humanitarian missions, including supporting hospitals. But these interactions have been largely constrained by border fighting. Although there are no mandatory evacuations in Lebanon and some civilians remain in their homes, more than 90,000 people have been displaced by the fighting and have left border areas to live in temporary shelters or with relatives. Tens of thousands of civilians on the Israeli side have been displaced after the government evacuated towns along the border.
Both sides say they are working to avoid war. But the Israeli military has approved plans to invade Lebanon, while Hezbollah leaders have warned that no targets would be restricted if war breaks out.
“We do not want a total war because our fight is a war of support,” Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech on June 20, referring to the group’s aim to Divert Israeli troops to help Hamas in Gaza.
UNIFIL has long feared that the two countries could slide into war.
“The possibility that a mistake or misstep could trigger a wider conflict is a major concern for all of us,” UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenanti said earlier this year. “There are many things that could happen. Causing misjudgment.”
A Ghanaian battalion repairs UNIFIL vehicles at the base.
NPR’s Diego Ibarra Sanchez
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UNIFIL has approximately 10,000 peacekeepers, with 47 countries participating. The United States is not part of that mission.
“The situation has been pretty stable since 2006,” Tenetti said. “Seventeen years of stability are unprecedented. We hope to work towards a more lasting peace in southern Lebanon.
UNIFIL was not directly targeted in the conflict. But since October, the mission has become more dangerous. Increased shelling means peacekeepers often seek cover on bases and even in concrete bunkers. At the UNIFIL base closest to the Blue Line, just a few hundred feet from Israel, holes in the solar panels were struck by shrapnel from missiles destroyed in the air by Israeli defense systems, creating cracks. The mission’s rules of engagement allow it to use force only in self-defense or in the performance of its duties.
Just outside the base, near a tower, a U.N. soldier at the border looked out through binoculars at trees burned and blackened by incendiary attacks aimed at destroying the militants’ cover. The Israeli coastal city of Nahariya can be clearly seen from the tower.
The picture shows a house in Almaqab, southern Lebanon, destroyed by an Israeli attack.
NPR’s Diego Ibarra Sanchez
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In Yarine, an abandoned village in Lebanon, a cooler with a broken glass door was still full of beer outside a cafe. A medical dispensary sign is riddled with shrapnel. A house collapsed as a result of the airstrike.
“It’s been a rollercoaster,” said Major Alfred Alhassan Isaka, leader of UNIFIL’s Ghana contingent and one of the largest contributors to the mission. “Being here for a long time, you get used to things here. Now we have to change the way we operate.
