UN Security Council Condemns Death of Peacekeeper in Lebanon

The UN Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the killing of a UNIFIL Spanish peacekeeper, which occurred in the context of fire exchanges along the Blue Line on 28 January 2015.

UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) – The UN Security Council has stated it was looking forward to an immediate completion of UNIFIL's (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) investigation into the killing of a peacekeeper from Spain in an exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

"Members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the killing of a UNIFIL Spanish peacekeeper, which occurred in the context of fire exchanges along the Blue Line on 28 January 2015," the council said in a statement of Wednesday, adding that it was looking forward to an urgent end to UNIFIL's "full and comprehensive investigation to determine the facts and circumstances of the incident".

Apart from the UN peacekeeper, two Israeli soldiers died in the exchange of fire, which occurred when Hezbollah attacked an Israeli military convoy on the frontier with Lebanon. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) responded with artillery fire and an airstrike.

The press service of the Israeli Army has told RIA Novosti that Hezbollah might have used the Kornet Russian-made anti-tank missiles in the attack.

Israel has repeatedly accused Syria of providing Hezbollah with Russian-made missiles, which were used by the group during the 2006 Lebanon War.

Hezbollah, a paramilitary and political organization, originating in Lebanon's Shiite population, was established in the 1980s. The group's primary goal was military opposition to Israel's occupation of Lebanon.

Hezbollah is considered a terrorist state by many Western governments including Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom and many European states, but not by Russia.