UNIFIL Deputy Commander Injured after Convoy Attacked by Hezbollah Supporters in Beirut

Firefighters extinguish a burning UNIFIL vehicle, set ablaze by protesters, on the road leading to Beirut's international airport on February 14, 2025. (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP)
Firefighters extinguish a burning UNIFIL vehicle, set ablaze by protesters, on the road leading to Beirut's international airport on February 14, 2025. (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP)
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UNIFIL Deputy Commander Injured after Convoy Attacked by Hezbollah Supporters in Beirut

Firefighters extinguish a burning UNIFIL vehicle, set ablaze by protesters, on the road leading to Beirut's international airport on February 14, 2025. (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP)
Firefighters extinguish a burning UNIFIL vehicle, set ablaze by protesters, on the road leading to Beirut's international airport on February 14, 2025. (Photo by IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP)

The outgoing deputy force commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon was injured on Friday after a convoy taking peacekeepers to Beirut airport was attacked by Hezbollah supporters.

UNIFIL said the deputy commander — Maj. Gen. Chok Bahadur Dhakal from Nepal — had been set to leave the country after completing his mission when the UNIFIL convoy “was violently attacked, and a vehicle was set on fire.”

It demanded a full and immediate investigation by Lebanese authorities and for all perpetrators to be brought to justice, it said in a statement.

The protest came after Iran barred Lebanese planes from repatriating dozens of Lebanese nationals stranded in Iran on Friday, in a standoff after Lebanon blocked an Iranian civilian flight.
Lebanon halted the flight to Beirut this week after the Israeli military accused Tehran of using civilian aircraft to smuggle cash to Beirut to arm Hezbollah.
Iran said it would not allow Lebanese flights to land until its own flights were cleared to land in Beirut.
The standoff has left dozens of Lebanese citizens stranded in Iran for three days after attending a religious pilgrimage. They had been due to return to Beirut on Iran's Mahan Air before Lebanon barred the plane from landing.
Dozens of Hezbollah supporters cut off roads around Beirut's airport late on Thursday and Friday in protest.

Lebanon’s civil aviation agency said Thursday that “additional security measures” meant some flights were temporarily rescheduled until Feb. 18 -- the same day as a deadline for Israel and Hezbollah to fully implement the ceasefire agreement that ended their latest war in late November, including a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun condemned on Saturday the attack, saying security forces will not tolerate anyone who tries to destabilize the country, according to a statement by the president's office.
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and the army, in separate statements, condemned the attack too and said urgent measures would be taken to identify and arrest the attackers and prevent any violation of civil peace.
Lebanese state news agency NNA reported that Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar called for an emergency meeting before noon on Saturday to discuss the security situation.
"He affirmed the Lebanese government's rejection of this assault that is considered a crime against UNIFIL forces," NNA reported, citing the Lebanese minister.
He also gave instructions to work on identifying the perpetrators and referring them to the relevant judicial authorities.

The Amal Movement, the political party of parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, said in a statement that “the attack on UNIFIL is an attack on southern Lebanon” and called for the army and security forces to pursue the perpetrators.
The United States also condemned the attack.

After blocking the Iranian flight, Lebanon dispatched two planes on Friday from its own national airliner Middle East Airlines to bring the stranded Lebanese home from Iran, but Iran refused to allow the Lebanese aircraft to land on its territory.
Iran's ambassador to Beirut, Mojtaba Amani, told Iran's state television on Friday that Iran would allow the planes to land only if Iranian flights were allowed to travel to Beirut.



UN Humanitarian Chief Slams Aid Plan for Gaza Proposed by Israel, Backed by US 

A Palestinian boy has a bite from a ration of hot food from a charity kitchen set up at the Islamic University campus in Gaza City on May 12, 2025.(AFP)
A Palestinian boy has a bite from a ration of hot food from a charity kitchen set up at the Islamic University campus in Gaza City on May 12, 2025.(AFP)
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UN Humanitarian Chief Slams Aid Plan for Gaza Proposed by Israel, Backed by US 

A Palestinian boy has a bite from a ration of hot food from a charity kitchen set up at the Islamic University campus in Gaza City on May 12, 2025.(AFP)
A Palestinian boy has a bite from a ration of hot food from a charity kitchen set up at the Islamic University campus in Gaza City on May 12, 2025.(AFP)

United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher on Tuesday criticized an Israel-initiated and US-backed humanitarian aid distribution plan for Gaza as a "fig leaf for further violence and displacement" of Palestinians in the war-torn enclave.

"It is cynical sideshow. A deliberate distraction," Fletcher told the UN Security Council.

No humanitarian aid has been delivered to Gaza since March 2, and a global hunger monitor has warned that half a million people face starvation, a quarter of the enclave's population.

Israel proposed last week that private companies would take over handing out aid in Gaza's south once an expanded Israeli offensive starts in its war there, which began in October 2023 after Hamas attacked Israel. Aid deliveries have been handled by international aid groups and UN organizations.

"We can save hundreds of thousands of survivors. We have rigorous mechanisms to ensure our aid gets to civilians and not to Hamas, but Israel denies us access, placing the objective of depopulating Gaza before the lives of civilians," said Fletcher.

Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies, and is blocking deliveries until Hamas releases all remaining hostages.

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar, currently on an official visit to Japan, said on Wednesday that Israel endorsed what he called "the American humanitarian plan" under which aid would be provided by a private fund.

"It will go directly to the people. Hamas must not be allowed to get their hands on it," Saar said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has rejected Israel's proposal, saying in April it risked "further controlling and callously limiting aid down to the last calorie and grain of flour."

The UN says any aid distribution must be independent, impartial and neutral, in line with humanitarian principles.

Fletcher said the UN has met more than a dozen times with Israeli authorities about their proposed aid distribution model to find a solution but without success. Minimum conditions include the ability to deliver aid to all those in need wherever they are in Gaza, he said.

Amid the stalemate, the United States last week backed a mechanism for Gaza aid deliveries to be handled by private companies, an approach that appeared to resemble Israel's proposal, but gave few initial details about the plan.

"We will not allow the old, broken system to remain in place," Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon told the council. "We appreciate the efforts to build a new mechanism, one grounded in accountability."

US WORKING WITH ISRAEL

Senior US officials were working with Israel to enable a newly established Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to "provide a secure mechanism capable of delivering aid directly to those in need, without Hamas stealing, looting or leveraging this assistance for its own ends", acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea told the Security Council on Tuesday.

She urged the UN and aid groups to cooperate, saying the foundation would deliver aid consistent with humanitarian principles and would "ensure its own security so that commodities reach civilians in need".

"While some humanitarian organizations may ultimately choose not to engage in these conversations, others have chosen a more constructive path, and they will be able to deliver aid in an appropriate way, hopefully very soon," Shea said.

Fletcher said the Israeli-designed distribution model was not the answer. This was in part because Israel said it would limit aid distribution to south Gaza during its planned offensive and people would have to relocate to access aid there.

"It forces further displacement. It exposes thousands of people to harm," Fletcher told the council. "It restricts aid to only one part of Gaza while leaving other dire needs unmet. It makes aid conditional on political and military aims. It makes starvation a bargaining chip."

Most of the 15-member Security Council expressed concern about the proposed aid distribution plans.

"We cannot support any model that places political or military objectives above the needs of civilians. Or that undermines the UN and other partners' ability to operate independently," Britain, France, Slovenia, Greece and Denmark said in a joint statement before the council meeting.

The war in Gaza was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas killed 1,200 people in southern Israel, and took some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, more than 52,700 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza health authorities.