A French soldier serving with the UNIFIL force was killed on Shabbos in southern Lebanon, and three other soldiers were wounded, two of them seriously, after gunfire was directed at a unit operating near the village of Jandouriya.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced that the soldier killed was a staff sergeant from the Montauban area, adding that all indications point to Hezbollah’s responsibility for the attack. The UNIFIL force also blamed Hezbollah.

According to a UNIFIL statement, the unit had arrived in the area to clear unexploded ordnance and open an access route to isolated positions when it came under small-arms fire from “non-state actors.” The organization clarified that this was a deliberate attack on a force operating within its mandate, and stressed that harm to peacekeepers constitutes a violation of international law and of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, and may even be considered a war crime.

Macron expressed condolences to the soldier’s family, condemned the “unacceptable attack,” and called on Lebanese authorities to act against those responsible.

“Everything suggests that responsibility for this attack lies with Hezbollah,” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on social media. “France demands that the Lebanese authorities immediately arrest those responsible and assume their responsibilities alongside UNIFIL,”

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned the incident and ordered an investigation.

The incident occurred shortly after the start of the ten-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which went into effect at midnight Thursday.

(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis ha’Shabbos in Israel)