(JNS) The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday renewed the mandate of United Nations peacekeeping in southern Lebanon for one year.
The UNIFIL peacekeeping force was established in 1978 to verify Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon following an army incursion. After the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, UNIFIL’s mandate was expanded to monitor the cessation of hostilities.
Last year, the Security Council further requested UNIFIL to take “special and temporary measures” to assist the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) with food, fuel, medicine and logistical support.
In his report to the Council on Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that while the “underlying drivers of the standoff have been dramatically replaced since 2006, UNIFIL faces new demanding situations in the conduct of its operations,” adding restrictions to its freedom. of movement
Israel accused the Iranian-backed terrorist organization Hezbollah of preventing UNIFIL peacekeepers from fulfilling their mandate.
The Security Council solution condemned “in the strongest terms all attempts to limit the freedom of movement of UNIFIL personnel, all acts of harassment and intimidation and all attacks against peacekeeping forces”.
The solution “calls on the parties to end all restrictions and impediments to the movement of the UNIFIL workers’ corps and to guarantee UNIFIL freedom of movement, in addition to authorizing announced and unannounced patrols. “
Although Security Council members support UNIFIL, negotiations for this year’s renewal have proved difficult, with at least five drafts circulated.
According to sources, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom demanded the inclusion of language explicitly mentioning Hezbollah’s activities, but the wording was not adopted.
The UAE’s ambassador to the UN, Lana Nusseibeh, told the council that the supply of weapons through non-state teams “has clearly posed a serious risk to the sovereignty, security and stability of Lebanon, as well as to the region.
Another key point of controversy in the early stages of the negotiations was whether and how to arrive at a text on UNIFIL’s continued assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces. This provision was introduced last year due to considerations about the effect on the socio-economic environment. crisis in Lebanon over the ability of the FTAA to carry out its purposes in the UNIFIL operations domain.
Support dragged on for another six months with Wednesday’s unanimous renewal vote.
Guterres wrote that since Lebanon is facing a deep economic crisis, all state establishments “are overburdened by monetary conditions. “”
The final solution highlighted “the threat that violations of the cessation of hostilities may lead to a new confrontation that no party or region can afford. “
At last week’s Security Council assembly on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, the UN special envoy for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wennesland, warned of Hezbollah’s superiority on Israel’s northern border.
Tensions between Israel and Lebanon over disputed herbal fuel fields in the Mediterranean Sea and progress in U. S. -brokered negotiations between the two countries over maritime borders have raised analysts’ fears that Hezbollah is taking steps to sabotage the talks.
In July, the IDF said it shot down 3 unarmed Hezbollah drones introduced into the Karish fuel platform. On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz warned Hezbollah that any attack on Israeli fuel fields could lead to war. Caution followed the terror group’s risk of “cutting off” Israel’s hands if it extracted fuel from the site.
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