Information from "Anbaa" revealed that the Lebanese army's intelligence directorate is handling the al-Aqbiya assault case alongside the relevant judiciary, with no arrests made yet, as they await new developments in the coming days. Regarding what happened, are there any political threads?
The head of the Middle East Studies Center, Brigadier General Dr. Hisham Jaber, viewed the incident as "spontaneous" and not orchestrated, stating that there was neither an ambush nor bait for the UNIFIL vehicle, nor were there political messages involved. The incident seemed to stem from a conflict between international force personnel and locals that escalated to gunfire, resulting in a casualty. However, Jaber emphasized the necessity of waiting for the investigation results.
He suggested that Hezbollah has no interest in the death of a UNIFIL soldier in areas under UN Resolution 1701, as this would open the door to the presence of its armed forces in that region—something they have been trying to demonstrate compliance with over the years. He reminded that most Lebanese possess weapons at home, and any individual could carry out such an act.
Regarding the expected repercussions from the incident, Jaber dismissed the possibility of international ramifications, but anticipated that some forces within the United Nations might exploit the assault "to push for a modification of UN missions and powers, a subject they had raised previously."
