Clashes between residents of Khirbit Silm and Touline and French soldiers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) broke out on 29 June, 3 and 4 July 2010.

The inhabitants of these two Southern Lebanese villages protested when the "blue helmets" entered their village in force to carry out maneuvers without the knowledge of the Lebanese Army. According to them, the soldiers were operating outside their UN mandate, taking photographs, asking questions to identify members of the Resistance and violating private property.

The simulated context of the UNIFIL exercise was a Hezbollah rocket attack on Israel and the defense of the Israeli State by UN forces.

French Foreign Minister Hervé Morin recently stated his intention to modify the UNIFIL rules of engagement and integrate a GIGN-type unit (Special forces attached to the French Army, Navy, Air force and Gendarmerie/Police) to search the dwellings of suspected Resistance members in a weapons confiscation drive.

Toting sticks and stones, the villagers wounded two of the soldiers.

Hezbollah spokesman Ammar Moussawi stated that the UNIFIL offense and the resulting incidents aimed to place the Lebanese Army in an awkward situation, a maneuver which ran aground.

The Lebanese Army deplored UNIFIL’s failure to co-ordinate with it while, at the same time, guaranteeing its protection. The Chief of Staff disclosed that the UNIFIL French contingent had received an Israeli request to search the houses of Hezbollah activists. He reaffirmed that the defense of Lebanon depended on the coordination between the Army and the Resistance.

A figure close to the Resistance declared to Lebanese daily As-Sharq al-Awsat that these events were part of a French plan of interference.

On 9 July 2010, the Security Council adopted a declaration, read by the Chair, confirming the UNIFIL mission. The text was drafted by France.

Welcoming Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri to the Elysée Palace, French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned him about the situation in the South of Lebanon.