Reuters
Metropolis Desk-
Following a compromise between France and the United States on phrasing regarding the freedom of movement of UN forces, the United Nations Security Council decided to continue a long-standing peacekeeping deployment in Lebanon for another year on Thursday.
The 1978-founded UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) keeps watch over Lebanon’s southern border with Israel. Every year, the operation’s authority is extended, and the most recent authorization was set to end on Thursday.
With 13 votes in favor and two abstentions from China and Russia, the French-drafted wording was approved. Because of disagreements over language regarding UN freedom of movement, a vote that was scheduled on Wednesday was postponed.
The resolution’s explicit language stating that peacekeepers should coordinate with the Lebanese government was preserved by France.
However, France reinstated language it had previously deleted from last year’s council resolution that calls for all parties to permit “announced and unannounced patrols” by UN forces as part of a compromise with the US and the UAE.
The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told the council that the UNIFIL personnel needed to be able to fulfill their duties without interference.
And we’ve long been concerned about some actors’ attempts to restrict the freedom of the mission, she added. “The language strongly reaffirming UNIFIL’s full freedom of movement is included in the resolution adopted today.”
The renewal of peacekeeping comes amid an intensifying verbal battle between Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israel, with each side threatening to send the other back to the “stone age” and preparing for a potential fight but denying they are looking to start one.
Following a month-long conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006, UNIFIL’s mandate was expanded to include supporting the Lebanese army in maintaining areas of the south free of armed persons or weapons other than those belonging to the Lebanese state.
That has led to conflict with Hezbollah, which, despite the presence of the Lebanese army, effectively rules southern Lebanon. The most potent political force in Lebanon is the heavily armed Hezbollah.
An Irish peacekeeper was murdered in southern Lebanon in December when his UNIFIL truck came under fire. Hezbollah members are being held accountable for the murder, according to a Lebanese military tribunal. Officially, Hezbollah has denied any involvement.
Source- Arab News
