The UN Interim Force in Lebanon has been mandated by the Security Council to monitor the cessation of hostilities following the 2006 war. Lebanon: UN peacekeepers to remain at all positions along the Blue Line Peace and Security
Despite demands from the Israeli military to leave areas near the Blue Line, all countries contributing personnel to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and members of the Security Council have unanimously decided that the peacekeepers will remain in their positions, UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said on Friday.
“We must try to bring stability and peace back to this region,” he told reporters in Geneva.
Peacekeepers’ safety
Speaking from Beirut, Tenenti said UNIFIL personnel were forced to spend long hours in shelters due to ongoing shelling. He also said that several incidents involving Israeli forces in recent days, which have injured peacekeepers and damaged UN property, were a violation of Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted in 2006.
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The resolution authorizes UNIFIL, which was originally established in 1978, to monitor the cessation of hostilities following the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and to certify the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon, while assisting the Lebanese government in restoring its authority in the area.
UNIFIL said on Friday that “the daily intense shelling has intensified due to IDF incursions into Lebanese territory in close proximity to the Blue Line in both UNIFIL sectors (East and West), which constitutes a violation of Lebanese sovereignty and also a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.”
The right to self-defense
Responding to questions from reporters about self-defense, Tenenti said that under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, peacekeepers can use force to protect themselves, but also “must be very pragmatic about when and how to use it, as we do not want to become part of the conflict and provoke more violence.”
“We “We are trying to reduce tensions, and it is up to the commanders on the ground to decide whether it is time to use self-defence,” he explained.
Crisis in southern Lebanon
A UNIFIL spokesman also said the mission was making efforts to coordinate the distribution of aid to civilians in southern Lebanon. However, humanitarian activities were facing obstacles, as in most cases it was not possible to obtain security guarantees.
Jens Laerke of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) explained that operations in the south of the country involved informing the Lebanese Armed Forces and the Israel Defense Forces about the movements of humanitarian convoys. For this, UN agencies and partners rely on UNIFIL, he added.
Most villages along the Blue Line have been destroyed, Tenenti said. Some 450,000 people have fled fighting in those areas, but there remain thousands of residents who are “in desperate need of assistance.”