Up to 30 shots were fired near a joint Irish-Lebanese unit by Israeli Defence Forces during an incident near the buffer zone blue line in south Lebanon, according to a briefing given to Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Simon Harris.
The details emerged after the Tánaiste was formally briefed on what happened by the incoming chief of staff of the Defence Forces Rossa Mulcahy this morning.
RTÉ News understands that during the briefing, the Tánaiste was told that six Irish blue helmet UNIFIL personnel based at Camp Shamrock were patrolling alongside members of the Lebanese Armed Forces when they came under fire.
Over the course of nine minutes, at least 30 warning shots were fired near the unit from Israeli Defence Forces.
The incident occurred near the village of Yaroun, which is 10km from Camp Shamrock. Yaroun was heavily damaged by Israeli Defence Forces last year.
UNIFIL said in a statement that bullets landed within 50 metres of peacekeepers who were "supporting the Lebanese army in helping civilians rebuild a livestock farm".
All present were forced to leave the area and there were no injuries, UNIFIL said.
In a statement to RTÉ News, the Tánaiste said a formal letter of objection from Ireland - known as a démarche - will now be sent by the Department of Defence to Israel via the United Nations.
"Brigadier General Mulcahy provided me with a detailed briefing on the serious events that took place yesterday involving Irish Defence Force personnel in southern Lebanon," the Tánaiste said.
"It's clear to me that the actions of the IDF were reckless, intimidatory, totally unacceptable and a clear breach of the international rules surrounding peacekeeping.
"Brigadier General Mulcahy has assured me that all of our troops impacted are safe and well. They have been de-briefed following the incident and patrols are continuing as normal today," he added.
"I want to pay tribute to our personnel deployed with UNIFIL, who are operating in an increasingly volatile and tense environment.
"My officials in the Department of Defence will today formally lodge a protest letter over what happened yesterday and this will be communicated directly with Israel," Mr Harris said.
