Second French soldier injured in attack in Lebanon dies, announces Macron

Sergeant Florian Montorio Reuters A soldier from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) was killed and three others were injured in an attack in southern Lebanon this Saturday morning (18). Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the attack and ordered an immediate investigation, according to a publication on the X network. According to Unifil, the initial assessment is that the shots came from non-state agents, possibly linked to Hezbollah, a Lebanese extremist group backed by Iran. UNIFIL said in a statement. ✅ Follow the g1 international news channel on WhatsApp LIVE: Follow the latest news on the war in the Middle East Hezbollah, however, denied responsibility for the attack, according to Reuters. Additionally, the speaker of Lebanon’s Parliament, Nabih Berri, who is allied with Hezbollah, condemned the attack, according to French news agency AFP. In a statement, Berri said he “condemns the attack against a patrol of the French contingent of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon in southern Lebanon.” See the videos that are trending on g1 The military was carrying out an operation to remove explosive devices at the time of the attack. The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, also spoke out and named Hezbollah as a suspect. “Everything indicates that responsibility for this attack lies with Hezbollah. France demands that the Lebanese authorities immediately arrest those responsible and assume their responsibilities alongside Unifil,” Macron said. Macron identified the victim as Chief Sergeant Florian Montorio of the 17th Parachute Engineering Regiment in Montauban. Attack takes place during Israel’s ceasefire in Lebanon Understand the 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon The President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced this Thursday (16) that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a ten-day ceasefire. The truce, Trump said, includes Hezbollah, the terrorist group that Israel says it targets in attacks on Lebanese territory. ➡️ Israel has been attacking Lebanon in the wake of the war in the Middle East and says it is targeting Hezbollah, which is financed by Iran and has once again attacked northern Israel. The Lebanese Army was not directly involved in the conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that he had agreed to the ceasefire announced by Trump. Hezbollah said in a statement after the announcement that any ceasefire must prevent the presence of Israeli soldiers. But Netanayhu said the agreement does not provide for the withdrawal of its soldiers, who are currently occupying parts of southern Lebanon, which could cause the truce to collapse. Previously, the terrorist group had already said that it would not comply with any agreement between the two governments. Relations between the two neighboring Middle Eastern countries have been strained since the 1970s. Israel attacked southern Lebanon in 1978 and again in 1982 to combat constant offensives by pro-Palestinian militias. Members of the UN peacekeeping forces (Unifil) observe the border between Lebanon and Israel, from a surveillance tower in the city of Marwahin, in southern Lebanon, on October 12, 2023. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

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