Lebanon’s army is not a party to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, but the fighting is taking place in its territory.
Three Lebanese soldiers were killed on Sunday by Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, drawing condemnation from the Lebanese Armed Forces and prompting Israel’s military to apologize for what it called “these unwanted circumstances.”
The Israeli military said on Sunday that its troops had struck a Hezbollah truck with a launcher on it and later struck again after seeing another truck in the same area, a “combat zone” where Hezbollah had attacked Israeli troops. But the military “later concluded that the truck was owned by the Lebanese Army, and that three operatives were killed.”
The deaths of the Lebanese soldiers highlighted the complicated dynamic that Lebanon’s army is navigating as Israel invades its territory to fight Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant and political group with significant influence in the country.
The Lebanese Army is not a party to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Still, Lebanon’s military does not support Israel’s invasion of its country, and referred to Israel as the “enemy” in statements on Sunday and Monday about the soldiers’ deaths, saying they were targeted when they were driving in an army vehicle in southern Lebanon.
By contrast, the Israeli military said in a statement that it is “not operating against the Lebanese Army and apologizes for these unwanted circumstances.”
It was the third time this month that Israeli troops have killed Lebanese soldiers amid Israel’s war with Hezbollah. And the incident came just a day before the Commander Gen. Joseph Aoun of the Lebanese Armed Forces met with Amos Hochstein, President Biden’s envoy on the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, to discuss the situation in Lebanon and “ways to support the Lebanese Army.”
