Hezbollah blasts attack on UNIFIL convoy, demands return of Iran flights to Lebanon

The Iranian-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah on Sunday condemned the attack on a UNIFIL peacekeeping convoy by pro-Hezbollah rioters. The convoy was reportedly on its way to Beirut’s international airport. Hezbollah claimed it “affirms its firm rejection of any targeting of [UNIFIL] as well as any harm to public and private property.”

UNIFIL’s outgoing deputy commander Maj. Gen. Chok Bahadur Dhakal from Nepal was injured in the attack by pro-Hezbollah extremists. 

“We are shocked by this outrageous attack on peacekeepers who have been serving to restore security and stability to south Lebanon during a difficult time,” the UNIFIL said in a public statement. The UN organization added that the deputy UNIFIL commander, who had completed his mission in Lebanon, “was violently attacked, and a vehicle was set on fire.”

While Hezbollah publicly distanced itself from the attack on UNIFIL, the terror group described the rioters as “a peaceful movement and a civilized expression of popular opposition to unjustified submission to foreign dictates,” a barely veiled reference to Israel and the United States. 

“The protesters were surprised when some Lebanese army personnel launched tear gas canisters toward them,” Hezbollah claimed, adding that it “calls on the army leadership to open an urgent investigation into this condemned attack.”

The Iranian-backed terror group called on the Lebanese government to “assume its responsibility in protecting the peaceful protesters.”

Hezbollah concluded by demanding that the Lebanese government “reverse its decision to prevent Iranian planes from landing at Beirut Airport, and take serious measures to prevent the Israeli enemy from imposing its dictates and violating national sovereignty.”

The Iranian regime, which funds and arms Hezbollah, has systematically smuggled arms to its terror proxy on civilian flights from Iran to Beirut's international airport.

In recent months, Israel has prevented Iranian flights from landing in the Lebanese capital to prevent Hezbollah from rearming and regrouping after more than a year of war with the Jewish state.

An unnamed Lebanese security official told the AFP news outlet that Lebanon had denied Iranian flights to land in Beirut on two occasions in the past week alone. The move by the Lebanese government came after the U.S. Trump administration warned that the IDF could potentially shoot the planes attempting to land in Lebanon. 

“Through the Americans, Israel informed the Lebanese state that it would target the airport if the Iranian plane landed in Lebanon,” the anonymous Lebanese source revealed. “The American side told the Lebanese side that Israel was serious about its threat.”

U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus recently demanded that Hezbollah be excluded from the new Lebanese government due to its terrorism and extremism. 

“We have set clear red lines in the United States that [Hezbollah] won’t be able to terrorize the Lebanese people, and that includes by being a part of the government,” Ortagus stated following a meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. 

“Hezbollah was defeated by Israel and we are grateful to our ally Israel for defeating Hezbollah,” the U.S. envoy added.

Despite Hezbollah’s significantly weakened military capabilities, it remains a key political force in Lebanon. As a result, the new Lebanese government has chosen to incorporate Hezbollah into its administration in Beirut.

However, Lebanon’s new prime minister, Nawaf Salam, who is not a Hezbollah ally, emphasized that “the security of Beirut airport takes precedence over any other consideration.”

“And the safety of travelers as well as the safety of Lebanese citizens are elements on which we will not compromise,” the Lebanese president added, appearing to indirectly criticize Hezbollah’s arms smuggling efforts through the nation's main international hub.