Macron, UNIFIL blame Hezbollah for killing of French peacekeeper in Lebanon

French president directly accuses terror group of ambush, as it issues a denial; Lebanon’s president vows to prosecute those responsible

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday said Hezbollah was responsible for the death of a French soldier in an attack on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, while the UN Interim Force in Lebanon blamed “non-state actors,” code for the Iran-backed terror group.

“Everything points to Hezbollah being responsible for this attack,” Macron said on X, urging Lebanese authorities to arrest the perpetrators.

“This morning, a UNIFIL patrol clearing explosive ordnance along a road in the village of Ghanduriyah to re-establish links with isolated UNIFIL positions came under small-arms fire from non-state actors. Tragically, one peacekeeper succumbed to his injuries and three others were injured, two of them seriously,” the observer force said in a statement.

UNIFIL said it “condemns this deliberate attack on peacekeepers engaged in their mandated tasks. The work of explosive ordnance disposal teams is vital in the mission’s area of operations, especially in the wake of the recent hostilities.”

The observer force said it had launched an investigation “to determine the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident.”

It added that an “initial assessment indicates the fire came from non-state actors.”

Hezbollah denied any involvement, calling for “caution in issuing judgments and responsibilities regarding the incident” while expressing “surprise at the [parties] that rushed to throw accusations arbitrarily.”

Macron’s office said he held calls with Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun and Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to urge them to “guarantee the security of UNIFIL soldiers.”

Aoun vowed to prosecute those who targeted the peacekeepers, while Salam said he had ordered an investigation.

A statement shared by the presidency said Aoun had expressed his condolences to Macron in a phone call, condemning the incident and vowing that Beirut “will not hesitate to pursue those involved and bring them to justice.”

The peacekeeper killed, identified as Staff Sergeant Florian Montorio, was caught in an “ambush” as his unit headed to a UNIFIL outpost, and he died from a “direct gunshot,” France’s armed forces minister Catherine Vautrin said on X.

She said the outpost they had been heading to had been “cut off for several days by combat in the area.”

The ambush was carried out “by an armed group at very close range,” she said.

Vautrin added that Montorio was “picked up by his comrades under fire,” but they were unable to resuscitate him.

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, condemned the deadly attack in a statement shared by his office.

The speaker “praised the sacrifices made by UNIFIL forces over the decades, particularly the French contingent,” and contacted UNIFIL Force Commander General Diodato Abagnara to offer his condolences.

Three Indonesian peacekeepers were killed last month, with a preliminary UN investigation finding one was killed by Israeli tank fire, while the two others were killed by an improvised explosive device likely planted by Hezbollah.

Saturday’s incident comes less than two days after US President Donald Trump announced a 10-day ceasefire to end more than six weeks of war between Hezbollah and Israel.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East conflict on March 2 when Tehran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel to avenge the death of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, with Israel responding by firing waves of strikes at Hezbollah targets and launching a ground offensive.

Senior Hezbollah official Mahmud Qamati said that his terror group was not concerned by Lebanon’s planned direct talks with Israel, labeling them a failure.

UNIFIL is stationed in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the border. The mission, which will be halted at the end of 2026, has been sporadically caught in the crosshairs of both Israel and Hezbollah over the last few years.

Israel has long argued that the observer force has failed in its mission, doing little to block Hezbollah from building up its forces near the Israeli border over the decades.