New York (Union)
United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, expressed his concern about the increase in aggression by Israeli forces against the organization’s personnel working in southern Lebanon.
Lacroix began a tour in the Middle East, which included Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territory, where he met in Lebanon with senior political and security officials, and held discussions with the leadership of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and ambassadors. He said that the purpose of the visit was to evaluate how UNIFIL continues to implement its mandate and to discuss ways forward, especially in light of the Security Council’s request for options to support the United Nations to implement Resolution 1701 after the end of UNIFIL’s current mandate on December 31, 2026. He stressed that UNIFIL will continue its operations, until that date, without any prior plans to reduce the number of its forces, reaffirming the mission’s commitment to supporting the Lebanese Armed Forces and implementing Resolution 1701.
While welcoming the progress made by the Lebanese authorities, including re-establishing operational control south of the Litani River, Lacroix acknowledged that there was still significant work to be done.
The UN official raised serious concerns about the safety of peacekeepers in the region, noting the increase in aggressive or hostile incidents that restrict movement and expose individuals to danger.
Yesterday, an Israeli Merkava tank fired about thirty bullets towards a site of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) near the town of Kfar Shuba in southern Lebanon.
