Spain Requests UN Probe Into Peacekeeper's Death During Shelling in Lebanon

Spanish foreign affairs minister called on the UN to carry out an "immediate and full investigation" into the death of a peacekeeper during Israeli-Hezbollah exchange of fire, adding that he "will not hesitate to bring to justice" the attackers.

MADRID, January 28 (Sputnik) — Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo has demanded the UN conduct an investigation into the death of a UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNFIL) peacekeeping mission soldier in southern Lebanon Wednesday.

Margallo called on the UN to carry out an "immediate and full investigation" into the tragedy, adding that he "will not hesitate to bring to justice" the attackers.

The foreign minister added that Israeli authorities, including Ambassador of Israel to Spain Alon Bar, had extended their condolences in connection with the incident. The UN special envoy for the Syria crisis, Staffan de Mistura, has also expressed his condolences and stressed the need for a "speedy investigation."

Francisco Javier Soria Toledo, 36, who served in the 10th Guzman el Bueno brigade in southern Spain's Cordoba, had been stationed in Lebanon since November 2014, Spain's Defense Ministry told RIA Novosti.

Reports of the UNFIL soldier's death emerged as the Israel Defense Forces launched at least 25 shells on Shebaa Farms in the Israeli-occupied Lebanese territories. The move was reportedly made in response to a Hezbollah attack on an Israeli military convoy earlier in the day, which the resistance movement claimed responsibility for.

Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shiite political party and militant group established in the 1980s to oppose Israel's occupation of Lebanon. It is considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and a number of Western countries.