Anti-UN campaigns hit social media amid attacks on peacekeepers in Lebanon

Amid attacks on its peacekeepers, social media has been flooded by posts accusing the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), in which India has around 900 troops, of supporting Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon. This online campaign is riddled with disinformation and unsubstantiated claims and accusations.

The social media campaign, led by pro-Israeli accounts on X (formerly Twitter), coincides with UNIFIL accusing Israel of attacking its premises and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s calls for UNIFIL to withdraw from areas in southern Lebanon where the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) are operating.

On Saturday, a photo of a UN armoured vehicle with Hezbollah’s flag on it began circulating on X, with many projecting it as “evidence” of UNIFIL’s support for the militant organisation. Thousands had shared it by Monday evening — the phrase “Hezbollah flag UNIFIL” featured in more than 10,000 posts on X.

However, a post published on April 1 by Roi Kais, a correspondent with Israeli public broadcaster Kan 11, provided a completely different picture. He reported that the UN patrol vehicle was attacked by people in Barishit village in southern Lebanon. The vehicle’s tyres were punctured and the Lebanese Army had to rescue the patrol team. The same sequence of events featured in an April 2 update on Lebanon by Israel-based Alma Research and Education Centre.

On Monday, pro-Israeli accounts started using “UNIFIL has failed” to drive home the same point: that the peacekeeping force should leave Lebanon and let the IDF do its job.

Per the social media listening tool Talkwalker, most of the posts featuring both phrases “Hezbollah flag UNIFIL” and “UNIFIL has failed” were published within hours of them being used. This pattern suggests likely coordination and mass posting to push the message.

ATTACKS ON UNIFIL

Deployed to maintain peace along the Blue Line under the 2006 UN Security Resolution 1701, the UNFIL and multinational troops serving in the mission have come under attack on at least eight accounts between October 9 and October 13, as per the force.

At least five UNIFIL peacekeepers sustained injuries in three different instances of attack on UN premises. IDF troops were responsible for at least the injuries to two peacekeepers on October 10.

IDF Merkava tanks destroyed the UNIFIL position in Ramyah along the Blue Line in the early morning of October 13. In a statement, the UN force said that the firing of harmful gas around 100 metres from the base made 15 peacekeepers ill. The IDF claimed to have identified Hezbollah rocket launch posts within 300 metres of UNIFIL posts. It also reportedly released videos showing tunnels near UNIFIL facilities.

There are around 900 Indian armed personnel serving in the UNIFIL in southeastern Lebanon, bordering Israel-occupied Golan Heights.