A Serbian soldier serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was killed and two others wounded on Wednesday after a mortar struck their position near Marjayoun, a town in southern Lebanon. Israel attributed the shelling to Hezbollah, though no evidence was publicly provided. The incident drew swift international condemnation, with South Korea's foreign ministry calling the attack a violation of international humanitarian law and UN Security Council Resolution 1701, the 2006 resolution that established UNIFIL's expanded mandate and created a buffer zone banning Hezbollah forces from the area south of the Litani River, roughly 30 kilometres north of the Israeli border.

The peacekeeper's death came amid a sharp escalation in Israeli military operations across southern Lebanon. Israel's air force struck multiple locations on Friday, issuing evacuation warnings for nine villages, including Anqoun and areas near Maghdoucheh, a predominantly Christian village close to the southern port city of Sidon that had been sheltering thousands of people displaced by the now three-month-long conflict. Lebanese state media reported six people killed in the strikes. Israeli ground forces have pushed well beyond the Litani River line, demolishing large swathes of territory in the south.

The escalation followed Hezbollah's rejection of a ceasefire agreement reached in Washington earlier in the week. Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a long-standing ally of the group who has been acting as a mediator, said he could accept Hezbollah's withdrawal south of the Litani only if it occurred simultaneously with a full Israeli withdrawal. He demanded the ceasefire be "complete and comprehensive" — covering land, sea, and air — and criticised provisions in the agreement that called for a unilateral Hezbollah pullback or the establishment of so-called "pilot zones."

The killing of the Serbian peacekeeper underscores the mounting dangers facing the approximately 10,000 UN troops deployed in southern Lebanon. UNIFIL, which has operated in the country since 1978, has faced repeated incidents during the current conflict in which its positions have been struck or obstructed. Seoul's foreign ministry urged all parties to respect their obligations toward UN peacekeeping personnel under all circumstances — a call that reflects broader international anxiety about the mission's viability as fighting continues with no ceasefire in sight.