Lebanon has welcomed the unanimous passage of a resolution by the UN Security Council extending the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon’s (UNIFIL) mandate for an additional year.
The Lebanese government submitted the request for renewal.
Lebanon attempted to strike out a few sentences from Resolution 2650 after France submitted a draft of it. However, a few nations insisted on enacting it in its entirety and resisted the revisions.
The Security Council reaffirmed that UNIFIL is permitted to carry out its activities independently and does not need anyone’s consent or previous authorization in order to carry out its designated tasks.
In order to maintain UNIFIL’s freedom of movement, the parties were urged to provide it permission to undertake both declared and unannounced patrols.
Peacekeepers and locals have previously engaged in combat. The Security Council demanded that the mission take steps to monitor and thwart disinformation in the resolution, which denounced “the harassment and intimidation of UNIFIL personnel, as well as the use of disinformation operations against peacekeepers.”
It also raised worry about recent changes along the Blue Line, pointing out the recent placement of containers that prevent peacekeepers from accessing or seeing some of the lines.
