Lebanon: Peacekeepers pledge to stay, do ‘whatever they can to help’
“Even though [Israel Defense Forces] request to move away from locations near the Blue Line, everyone made a unanimous decision UNIT Troop-contributing countries and the United Nations Security CouncilAndrea Tenenti, Spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon ( said ()UNIT).
“We need to be here, we need to try to bring stability and peace to this region,” he told journalists in Geneva.
Safety comes first
Speaking from Beirut, Mr. Tenenti noted that “hundreds of orbits and sometimes more” continue to be reported by UNIFIL daily, “forcing our peacekeepers to spend many hours in shelters To ensure their safety, this remains our top priority.”
He asserted that several incidents in recent days involving Israeli troops injuring peacekeepers, surveillance cameras and perimeter walls “of course” violate Security Council resolutions. Security in 2006 led to the current deployment along the buffer zone. The delegation was established in 1978 (Read our explanation here).
Resolution 1701 tasked UNIFIL with overseeing the cessation of hostilities following the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, confirming the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, and assisting the Lebanese government in restoring power in the region. It has more than 10,000 peacekeepers.
tax binding
Underscoring the difficulties in fulfilling its mission, UNIFIL reported on Friday that “intense daily shelling has worsened due to the incursion of the Israeli Defense Forces into Lebanese territory in near the Green Line and in both UNIFIL Areas (East and West), constitutes a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and is also a violation of the United Nations Security Council resolution 1701”.
UN Charter on self-defense
When asked whether peacekeepers could defend themselves if attacked, Mr. Tenenti said yes chapter six of the Charter of the United Nations“self-defense measures may be used But we also have to be very practical in how we use it and how we use it, because We don’t want to be part of the conflict and use of force can cause more violence.”
“We are trying to de-escalate tensions and it is up to commanders on the ground to decide when it is time to use self-defense.,” he explained.
The UNIFIL spokesperson also said the mission is “working hard behind the scenes” to coordinate the safe delivery of essential humanitarian aid to civilians in southern Lebanon, by agencies and partners brought by the United Nations.
“It is a challenge because most of us do not have security for humanitarian convoys,” Mr. Tenenti said, which limits the force’s ability to coordinate with humanitarian agencies.
Destruction in the south
Most of the villages along the Blue Line were “completely destroyed and damaged,” the UNIFIL spokesman continued. Although some 450,000 people have fled the fighting, thousands more are still in desperate need of aid.
Jens Laerke of the United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) explained that a humanitarian notification system is “active” and that in the south of the country where heavy fighting is taking place, this includes notifying the Lebanese armed forces and the Israeli defense on convoy movements.
“That’s where we rely on UNIFIL and their contacts in the region to make things go smoothly,” he said.
