Israeli drone kills a man in south Lebanon in a rare targeted strike, as the UN warns of a “security vacuum” after UNIFIL

An Israeli Hermes 450 drone struck a motorcycle on Wednesday, November 4 in Kabrikha, in the Marjayoun district of south Lebanon, killing one passenger and wounding the other. It was a relatively rare targeted operation against individuals, one of the first in south Lebanon in several weeks, as the Israeli army usually hits infrastructure in the area. The same day in New York, the head of UN peacekeeping warned that the departure of the blue helmets at the end of the year may leave the Lebanese and Israeli armies facing each other with no one in between.

“They were watching Israeli soldiers”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that they struck “two suspects who were monitoring IDF soldiers in the Kabrikha area, outside the Security Zone in southern Lebanon”. The strike, the statement continues, was carried out to eliminate the threat to forces operating inside the zone, while the army stresses it “remains committed to the Israel-Lebanon agreement”. Israeli defence officials said they were still examining the identity of the two men, whether they belonged to Hezbollah and whether they were armed.

On the Lebanese side, the Health Ministry confirmed one dead and one wounded. Local sources identified the dead man as Nasr Mohammed Younes, a member of the medical staff of the Islamic Message Scouts, an organisation linked to the Amal movement, an ally of Hezbollah. The last comparable Israeli strike on a person in Lebanon was on October 9 in the Hermel area in the east, while in September a strike on a village in Nabatieh had killed 13 people. Since the June framework agreement, mediated by the US, violence has receded, but implementation of the agreement is delayed.

The same day, Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir visited the 91st Division and the Khiam area, warning that any attempt by Hezbollah “to entrench itself, build up its capabilities or threaten the northern communities will be met immediately and with force”. The 91st Division, he said, is the “forward line of defence” for residents of northern Israel. The statement follows the tally of the IDF’s 7th Brigade, which completed its mission in south Lebanon.

Lacroix: who will stand between the two armies?

UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix, who had just returned from Lebanon, put the question directly to reporters: “What will happen when there is no third party between the Lebanese army and the Israel Defense Forces?” UNIFIL, which has patrolled the border with Israel since 1978, will cease operating at the end of the year, with about 7,500 peacekeepers still serving in it. President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam expressed to him, he said, the fear of a “security vacuum” once no one is left to prevent border incidents from escalating into clashes. For his remarks see also our report on the “security vacuum” warning.

Lacroix estimated, conservatively, that about 10,000 people still live between the Blue Line and the forward line of defence Israel has set up inside Lebanese territory, with their access to aid depending largely on UNIFIL. He also raised questions about the future of the Blue Line itself. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres presented options in June, but the Security Council has not agreed on any successor arrangement. The same deadlock led to the closure of the MINURSO mission in Western Sahara on October 31, after 35 years.