Shots fired at Irish peacekeepers in Lebanon

Hundreds of Irish troops are taking part in a UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon

Irish soldiers, who are serving as peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, have come under fire while on a joint patrol with the Lebanese Armed Forces, the Tánaiste (Irish deputy prime minister) has said.

The incident happened near the Blue Line in South Lebanon.

A number of small arm rounds were fired in the vicinity of the area in which the patrol was operating, the Irish Defence Force said.

There were no reported injuries and no damage to the armoured vehicles they were operating from.

Harris to contact Israeli government

Speaking to Irish broadcaster RTÉ on Thursday, Simon Harris, also the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs said he would contact the Israeli government over what he termed as an "utterly inappropriate, utterly unacceptable" attack on Irish peacekeeping troops.

He said: "This is the latest in a range of what I view as intimidatory behaviour by the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) towards peacekeepers, or as we saw recently, Irish diplomats too. So this is not acceptable."

The tánaiste, said the fact that they "came under fire while on patrol is deeply worrying".

"Today's incident illustrates the dangers that our peacekeepers face every single day while on a patrol in a region that has been increasingly unstable and volatile."

He added that he was pleased soldiers are "safe and well".

The Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin said that what happened was "completely unacceptable".

In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, he said that "the safety of peacekeepers carrying out their mandated duties must be respected by all".

The Irish Defence Forces said the patrol withdrew from the area.

They said soldiers "continue to monitor the situation in Southern Lebanon and are committed the stability of the region as impartial peacekeepers".

"We wish to remind all actors of their responsibility to ensure the safety and security of UN Peacekeepers," a statement said.