Lebanon Prosecutes Hezbollah Members in UN Soldier Murder Case

The Lebanese military court issued judicial verdicts yesterday, Tuesday, against six individuals in the case of the murder of the Irish soldier Sean Rooney, a member of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), who was killed in December 2022 when a UN patrol came under fire in southern Lebanon.

An unnamed Lebanese security source stated that all the convicted individuals are affiliated with Hezbollah.

According to Reuters, one of the suspects, named Mohammad Ayad, was sentenced to death in absentia, while another suspect was sentenced to three months in prison. Additionally, four others were fined between $1100 and $2200, and a seventh suspect was acquitted in the case.

The security source explained that Mohammad Ayad had been briefly detained for questioning before being released and is currently evading justice.

The incident dates back to December 15, 2022, when a UNIFIL vehicle carrying the soldier Sean Rooney (23 years old) was shot at in the Al-Adaysseh area in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel, resulting in his death and the injury of three other soldiers.

This incident marked the first deadly attack on UNIFIL forces in Lebanon since 2015.

In January 2023, the military court charged seven individuals in the case, with an official document in June of the same year revealing some of them to be affiliated with Hezbollah. They were charged with intentional homicide and damaging a UN vehicle.

UNIFIL welcomed the conclusion of the trial in an official statement on Tuesday, praising Lebanon's commitment to holding those responsible for the attack accountable and bringing them to justice.

It is worth mentioning that the United States had recently exerted increasing pressure on the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah, as part of international efforts to ensure security and stability in southern Lebanon and implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701.