A peacekeeper with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Serbian Sergeant Milovan Jovanovic, was killed by mortar fire near Marjayoun in southern Lebanon on 4 June; two other peacekeepers were injured1. UNIFIL has monitored the Israel-Lebanon line since 1978 under UN Security Council Resolution 1701. It called the attack a grave violation of international humanitarian law and said it may amount to war crimes.
The killing came on the same day a Washington framework for a Lebanon ceasefire was announced. Lebanon and Israel agreed that Hezbollah would halt attacks and withdraw operatives south of the Litani River, that pilot zones would fall under exclusive Lebanese Armed Forces control, and that political talks would resume in the week of 22 June. The framework follows Trump's 1 June call halting Israeli Beirut strikes and a fourth round of State Department talks on 2 June that reached no agreement.
IDF Chief Zamir said on 3 June 'there is no ceasefire for our forces', and the ground advance continued even as the framework was announced. A peacekeeper died on the day a ceasefire was announced, which is the clearest measure of how far the diplomatic track sits from the fighting it is meant to stop.
