Lebanese PM Visits UN Peacekeepers amid Dispute over Mandate
Arab World
Asharq Al-Awsat
Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab visited United Nations peacekeepers in the country's south near the border with Israel on Wednesday, describing the presence of the force in the volatile area as a necessity. The visit comes amid the backdrop of a war of words between Israeli and Lebanese officials, including the Hezbollah party, over the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The force has been deployed in southern Lebanon since an Israeli invasion in 1978. Israel is calling for major changes in the way the mission in southern Lebanon operates on the ground, demanding that it have access to all sites and freedom of movement and that it report back to the Security Council if it is being blocked. Hezbollah chief, Hassan Nasrallah, said late Tuesday that Lebanon will not accept a change of mandate for UNIFIL to allow it to raid and search areas, calling it a violation of the country's sovereignty. Nasrallah said the US is pressuring Lebanon to accept such a change. Diab said the presence of the troops was “necessary and urgent” in light of the ongoing "violations by Israel of Lebanon’s sovereignty by land, sea and air.” The quibble over the UNIFIL mandate comes up every year before the mandate is renewed in the summer. The peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon was originally created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops after the 1978 invasion. The mission was expanded after a 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah so that peacekeepers could deploy along the Lebanon-Israel border to help Lebanese troops extend their authority into their country’s south for the first time in decades. Israel has repeatedly accused Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants of impeding the peacekeepers from carrying out their mandate. On Tuesday, residents of the southern village of Blida protested against UNIFIL troops, accusing the Finnish battalion conducting patrols of damaging cars in the village. UNIFIL said it was investigating the incident. UNIFIL includes more than 9,400 ground troops and over 850 naval personnel in a Maritime Task Force.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2304961/lebanese-pm-visits-un-peacekeepers-amid-dispute-over-mandate
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