Andrea Tenetti, spokeswoman for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, said the Israeli military had asked UN peacekeepers to withdraw from positions near the Blue Line. However, countries contributing troops to UNIFIL unanimously decided that peacekeepers would continue to be deployed there.
“We need to be here, we need to try to bring peace and stability to the region,” he told reporters in Geneva on Friday.
Andrea Tenetti, reporting from Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, said that the UN mission was providing information on shelling every day. Because of this, peacekeepers are spending many hours sheltering in place for their own safety, which is our highest priority.
According to a spokesperson for the UN mission, there have been several incidents in the past few days, in which peacekeepers have been wounded by Israeli army fire, surveillance cameras have been dismantled and UNIFIL premises have been breached.
He noted that these incidents are in violation of resolutions passed by the United Nations Security Council in 2006. The same proposal calls for the establishment of a buffer zone between southern Lebanon and Israel and the deployment of peacekeepers.
Under Resolution 1701, the UN mission is responsible for monitoring an end to the violent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, verifying the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, and establishing Lebanese government authority in the area. 10,000 peacekeepers are working in the UNIFIL mission.
important responsibility
The UN mission says it is facing many challenges in carrying out its mandate by the Security Council and the situation is challenging due to shelling and ground operations by the Israeli military.
A journalist asked the UNIFIL spokesperson if the peacekeepers could defend themselves in the event of an attack.
In response he referred to Chapter VI of the UN Charter, under which self-defence can be exercised, but it is important to determine when and how to do so in practice.
The UN spokesperson made it clear that they do not want to be part of this violent conflict and do not want the use of force to lead to more violence.
Andrea Tenetti said the UN mission is working hard in the background to safely deliver humanitarian aid to needy populations in southern Lebanon.
Destruction in the south
According to the UN mission, most of the villages located near the Blue Line were completely destroyed. About 4.5 million people have fled their homes to escape the violence, but thousands more are in desperate need of assistance.
Yanes Lark, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said a system was in place for humanitarian purposes, through which Lebanese and Israeli security forces were informed about humanitarian aid convoys.
He said that in this process they are dependent on UNIFIL and their contacts, so that this responsibility can be carried out smoothly.