France blames Hezbollah for soldier’s death in Lebanon

• Hezbollah denies allegation, calls for ‘caution in making judgements’
• Macron urges Beirut to ‘guarantee security’ of UNIFIL peacekeepers

PARIS / BEIRUT: A French soldier was killed and three others wounded in an attack on Saturday on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon that appeared to have been carried out by Hezbollah, French President Emmanuel Macron said, an accusation the group has denied.

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

Macron urged Lebanon’s leaders to “guarantee the security of UNIFIL soldiers” in calls with the country’s president and prime minister, the Elysee presidential palace in Paris said.

Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day ceasefire on Thursday in order to negotiate an end to six weeks of war between Israel and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah.

The fighting in Lebanon, one of the fronts in the Middle East war, has seen the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) deployed there repeatedly targe-ted, by both Israeli and Hezbollah forces.

‘Caught in ambush’

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.

Hezbollah refutes claim

Hezbollah denied it was involved in the deadly attack on United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.

“Hezbollah denies any connection to the incident that occurred with UNIFIL forces in the Ghandouriyeh-Bint Jbeil area, and calls for caution in making judgements and assigning responsibilities regarding the incident pending the Lebanese army’s investigations to determine the full circumstances of the incident,” the group said in a statement.

Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun, condemned the attack and pledged to bring those responsible to justice.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2026