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Security Council to vote on Lebanon force renewal
The UN Security Council (UNSC) will decide today whether or not to renew the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), following criticism of the force’s effectiveness.
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley accused UNIFIL of failing to perform its role against Hezbollah and called Maj.-Gen. Michael Beary, the commander of UNIFIL, “the only person in south Lebanon who is blind” to Hezbollah’s activities in southern Lebanon.
Beary disputed evidence that Hezbollah was engaged in illegal weapons smuggling, saying: “We are extremely active in the area and if there were a large cache of weapons, we would know about it.”
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon echoed Haley’s comments, saying that UNIFIL “cannot continue to remain blind to the weapons buildup” and called on the UNSC to “adopt a more robust UNFIL mandate that will address the serious security threats posed by Hezbollah”. Israel claims that Hezbollah has stored thousands of weapons in southern Lebanon under the noses of UNIFIL.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his desire to improve UNIFIL’s ability to counter “the illegal presence of armed personnel, weapons or infrastructure inside its area of operations” in a letter to the UNSC on 4 August.
Discussions at the UN about a possible expansion of UNIFIL’s mandate encountered problems when France rejected a proposal that UNIFIL report violations directly to the UNSC because of concerns that this could lead to attacks on UNIFIL. France contributes 800 of UNIFIL’s 10,500 peacekeepers. However, Israel’s Kan Radio reported this morning that progress had been made in the discussions.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil also expressed his support for renewing the mandate yesterday on Twitter, saying: “Preserving the mandate of @unifil is necessary for peace and stability, otherwise will jeopardise efforts of @UN”.
UNIFIL has been deployed in southern Lebanon since 1978. Despite the UN peacekeeping force being significantly expanded after 2006, Hezbollah has maintained a strong presence in southern Lebanon.