UNIFIL discusses Israeli violations in Lebanon

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) yesterday held the 100th tripartite regular meeting with senior officials from the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) at the UN position at Ras Al-Naqoura.

According to the statement, General Beary reminded the parties of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s call, as stated in his latest report on the implementation of the resolution 1701, to not employ rhetoric threatening to use force as it undermines the ten years of relative calm between Lebanon and Israel.

“I wish to remind all of us of the importance of continuing to exercise the utmost restraint and to stress that in all cases the default action must be to immediately use UNIFIL’s liaison and coordination channels each time an incident occurs,” he added.

The Head of Mission and Force Commander of UNIFIL, Major General Michael Beary, chaired the meeting which focused on issues related to the implementation of UNIFIL’s mandate under UN Security Council resolution 1701 (2006), air and ground violations, the situation along the Blue Line and its ongoing visible marking, as well as the issue of withdrawal of Israeli forces from northern Ghajar, a UNIFIL statement said.

UNIFIL has been holding tripartite meetings regularly since the end of the Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006.