France condemns Israeli fire that injured UN peacekeeper in south Lebanon

France has condemned Israeli gunfire in southern Lebanon that slightly injured a United Nations peacekeeper, describing it as part of a pattern of recent incidents targeting UN forces.

In a statement on Friday, the French foreign ministry said: "France condemns the Israeli army's firing on December 26, 2025, near UNIFIL patrols," denouncing "a series of similar actions by the Israeli army against Unifil in recent weeks."

The incident is the latest reported by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which operates in southern Lebanon as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon and works alongside the Lebanese army to uphold a truce in place for about a year between Israel and Hezbollah.

Unifil said Israeli positions opened "heavy machine gun fire from positions of the Israeli Defense Forces" near a patrol in the village of Bastarra, "slightly injured a Blue Helmet, who suffered an ear concussion."

The UN force added that "another patrol carrying out a routine operational task also reported machine gun fire coming from the Israeli side in the immediate vicinity of its position" in the southern village of Kfarshouba on the same day.

Unifil said it had already notified the Israeli army in advance about its patrol movements in both areas.

Earlier this month, the peacekeeping mission reported further incidents in which Israeli forces fired at UN personnel, following similar episodes recorded in October and November.