A German warship operating as part of the UNIFIL peacekeepers mission on Thursday shot down a drone off the coast of Lebanon, the Defense Ministry in Berlin said. “The corvette brought an unidentified unmanned aerial vehicle into the water in a controlled crash,” the spokesperson said, reporting no damage to the German vessel or its crew. “The corvette Ludwigshafen am Rhein is continuing its duties,” he added.
Germany’s DPA news agency reported the incident and said the ship’s defense systems shot down the unidentified unmanned aircraft. This was the first time the corvette was involved in a military incident in years and also the first reported incident of a drone being shot down by anyone other than the IDF.
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According to the report, the drone was shot down northeast of the Lebanese border town of Al Naqoura, at some distance from the shore, and at a close proximity to the German ship. Parts of the drone were retrieved from the sea and were being examined. There are 60 German crew members and additional soldiers onboard the vessel.
The incident comes as Israel faces international outrage after incidents of shots fired by the IDF at peacekeepers in South Lebanon. Israel denied targeting the UNIFIL troops and said it repeatedly asked the forces to withdraw from the area where fighting against Hezbollah was underway, to avoid harm.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hezbollah was using UNIFIL positions as cover for their attacks against Israel.
Italy’s defense minister said on Thursday that the U.N. peacekeeping mission to Lebanon is vital to ending the war in the region and needs to be strengthened and not withdrawn from combat zones as Israel has demanded.
“Israel needs to understand that these (U.N.) soldiers are not working for any one side. They are there to help maintain peace and promote regional stability,” Defense Minister Guido Crosetto told parliament on Thursday. He said the resolution establishing the UNIFIL mandate was last revised in 2006 and needed updating.
UNIFIL is a complex mission with a mandate that is difficult to implement, has inadequate rules of engagement and forces that are not equipped for the current conflict,” he said.
Crosetto has called on the United Nations to update its operational capacity, including creating a rapid deployment force to enhance UNIFIL’s freedom of movement and give them more firepower. “The practical disconnect between the assigned mission and the capacity to implement it makes it more necessary than ever to rethink and strengthen UNIFIL,” Crosetto said.
Italian President Giorgia Meloni was due to visit Beirut on Friday.
