Senior IDF officials fear that photographs and documentation taken by UNIFIL peacekeepers of Israeli military operations on the Lebanon-Israel border are being leaked to Hezbollah, Army Radio reported on Sunday morning.
The claim is not unprecedented. In October, Israel Hayom reported that Hezbollah terrorists who were captured by the IDF in southern Lebanon testified in their investigations that Hezbollah paid money to UNIFIL personnel to use their bases for operations.
UNIFIL later told The Jerusalem Post that the reports were false, and that "[its] personnel have always shown themselves to be dedicated to their work in support of peace and stability in south Lebanon. Nonetheless, we will investigate any allegation based on credible evidence."
However, at the start of 2025, a Lebanese army chief leaked military secrets to Hezbollah during the ceasefire period with Israel while in a room run by the US, France, and the UN interim force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Britain's The Times reported, citing intelligence sources, and the Post independently confirmed
UNIFIL calls Israel 'the enemy,' and claims phrasing was a 'mistake'
The IDF also discovered an official UNIFIL document which referred to Israel as "the enemy," according to Army Radio.
After Israel demanded answers, Army Radio claimed that UNIFIL apologized for the phrasing, claiming they had "copied the wording of the Lebanese army" and had "forgotten" to correct it."
“There is nothing good in UNIFIL," Army Radio quoted a senior IDF official as saying. "They contribute nothing, certainly not to disarming Hezbollah, and harm the IDF’s freedom of action."
"The sooner they move out of the area and end their activity, the better.”
In August, the United Nations Security Council announced that it would unanimously extend, “for a final time,” a long-running peacekeeping mission in Lebanon until the end of 2026, after which the operation will begin a year-long “orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal.”
Yonah Jeremy Bob, Amichai Stein, and Reuters contributed to this report.