Lebanon announces its rejection of the draft renewal of the “UNIFIL” force presented to the Security Council, as it does not refer to the necessity of coordinating “UNIFIL” in its operations with the Lebanese government.
UNIFIL forces have been in Lebanon since 1978
The Lebanese Foreign Minister in the caretaker government, Abdullah Bouhabib, announced today, Friday, Lebanon’s rejection of the draft resolution put forward in the Security Council regarding the renewal of the “UNIFIL” force.
Bou Habib explained that the draft “does not refer to the necessity and importance of UNIFIL coordinating its operations with the Lebanese government represented by the Lebanese army.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs affirmed Lebanon’s refusal to legitimize the transfer of UNIFIL’s mandate from Chapter Six, in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1701 of 2006, which calls for resolving the conflict by peaceful means, to Chapter Seven of the United Nations Charter, which calls for imposing the decision by force.
Bou Habib said, “Showing the land borders contributes to putting an end to the ongoing tensions that get the borders because of them,” bearing in mind that Lebanon had called during the tripartite meetings, which are being held in Naqoura under the auspices of the United Nations, to complete the talks on addressing the controversial and reserved points related to the Blue Line, unless The Israeli side did not respond. Therefore, Minister Bou Habib asked the members of the Security Council in his meetings to work to complete the talks on it.
This comes after Bouhabib began, yesterday morning, Thursday, his meetings at the United Nations in New York, on a visit aimed at easing tensions and maintaining security and stability in southern Lebanon, prior to the upcoming session of the Security Council at the end of this month with a view to renewing UNIFIL’s mandate for an additional year.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Dr. Abdallah Bouhabib, began on Thursday morning his meetings at the United Nations in New York, on a visit aimed at easing tensions and maintaining security and stability in southern Lebanon, prior to the upcoming session of the Security Council at the end of this month, with a view to renewing UNIFIL’s mandate for an additional year. pic.twitter.com/85yfPTevay
— Mofa Lebanon (@Mofalebanon) August 25, 2023
The visit also includes keeping up with the international contacts that the ministry made with a large number of member states (permanent and non-permanent) in the Security Council, in exchange for Washington and a number of Arab capitals intensifying their pressure to push the Security Council to expand the tasks and powers of the deployed emergency forces.
Minister Bouhabib and the accompanying delegation started his meetings by meeting with the permanent representative of the United States of America, then with the permanent representatives of the United Kingdom, Japan and France, in addition to a meeting with the ambassadors of Arab countries to the United Nations, and he also held a lengthy meeting with the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Affairs in the Middle East Department .
The coordinator of the Lebanese government with UNIFIL, Brigadier General P.S.C. Mounir Shehadeh, participated in the Lebanese delegation, where he gave a presentation on the “Blue Line”, the points that Lebanon has reservations about, the Israeli violations, and the Lebanese territories that are still under Israeli occupation, in the presence of a large number of military attaches of the member states. In the United Nations and international staff in the Secretariat of the United Nations.
Last June, local media reported that Bouhabib was seeking to correct the “mistake” that was made last year and led to the extension of the mandate of the “UNIFIL” force for a year, according to new “rules of engagement” that allowed the international forces to expand their movement in southern Lebanon. .
Sources in the Foreign Ministry told the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar that Bouhabib had contacted the ambassadors of the permanent members of the Security Council, in an attempt to rephrase the paragraph that says that “UNIFIL forces do not need prior authorization or permission from anyone to carry out the tasks assigned to them, and that they are allowed allow it to conduct its operations independently,” and called on “the parties to guarantee UNIFIL’s freedom of movement, including by allowing the conduct of announced and unannounced patrols.”
And the UN Security Council renewed, on August 31, 2022, the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon for one year, provided that it also continues to support the Lebanese army logistically for a period of 6 months, with the addition of a paragraph to Article 16, which talks about UNIFIL not needing prior authorization. to perform its duties.
It is worth mentioning that UNIFIL forces have been present in Lebanon since 1978, and include about ten thousand soldiers, and are deployed in southern Lebanon.
Also read: The renewal of “UNIFIL”… “cold and peace” on Lebanon
2023-08-25 19:28:07
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