BEIRUT: Lebanon on Thursday highlighted its commitment to supporting the UN peacekeeping mission, known as UNIFIL.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed its “constant commitment to supporting UNIFIL’s mission and cooperating and coordinating with it to achieve sustainable stability on Lebanon’s southern borders.”
It added: “The primary cornerstone of this is the implementation of UN Resolution 1701 and relevant international resolutions that support the preservation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, call on Israel to withdraw beyond internationally recognized borders and from all Lebanese territories it still occupies, and to stop its ongoing aggressions and violations against Lebanon.”
The statement came after a UN Security Council resolution extended UNIFIL’s mandate for another year in southern Lebanon.
UNIFIL was created to oversee the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after a 1978 invasion and has been there ever since.
Hostilities have been ongoing since October 2023 between the Israeli army and Hezbollah on the southern front, violating UN Resolution 1701 implemented by UNIFIL on the ground.
All 15 members of the Security Council voted unanimously for the mandate extension without amending any UNIFIL mission, taking into account Lebanon’s demand.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati thanked the US “for its understanding of Lebanese specificities and its efforts to preserve UNIFIL missions, particularly in these critical circumstances.”
Mikati similarly thanked “France for all the efforts it has made to secure consensus on this matter, and for all that it is exerting for Lebanon and its stability.”
He also thanked “Algeria for leading the campaign to support the extension decision and for always standing by Lebanon in all areas.”
Along with its decision, the Security Council urged “all relevant actors to implement immediate measures toward de-escalation, including those aimed at restoring calm, restraint, and stability across the Blue Line,” calling on everyone “to respect it.”
Mikati renewed Lebanon’s “commitment to implementing relevant international resolutions, in particular Resolution 1701.”
The Charge d’Affaires of the Lebanese Mission to the UN Ambassador Hadi Hachem described the negotiation round leading to the extension decision as “very difficult, as Israel exerted great pressure to limit the extension to four or six months only.
“However, with the consensus of the Security Council and the help of Lebanon’s friends, we were able to secure a one-year extension. The resolution also directly included the call for ‘cessation of hostilities’ and ‘de-escalation by all parties.’
“The key issue we managed to include in the resolution was the reference to humanitarian law and the protection of civilians and children.”
He said that “the unanimous vote by all 15 members on the resolution, in line with Lebanon’s wishes, is a testament to confidence in Lebanon and a clear message of the international community’s interest in its security.”
Following the extension decision, the southern front remained subject to hostilities, which de-escalated relatively last Sunday.
The Israeli army announced on Thursday that it raided Hezbollah military buildings in the border village of Kfarkila and carried out artillery attacks against outposts in Yarine.
Kfarkila witnessed four Israeli raids on Thursday morning that destroyed several houses and damaged the properties of displaced residents.
Israeli raids targeted this afternoon the Kassaret Al-Oroush area in Al-Rihan Mountain.
Israeli artillery shelling also reached the outskirts of Wazzani, Jebbayn, Yarine, Aita Al-Shaab, and Deir Mimas.
Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier over southern areas and Beirut’s suburbs.
Hezbollah announced in several statements that it “launched an attack with swarms of assault drones on the command headquarters of the 210th Golan Division in the Nafah barracks, targeting the positions and quarters of its officers and soldiers and achieving accurate hits.”
While no casualties were reported on Thursday, the Ministry of Health condemned the Israeli attack that Wednesday night targeted the vicinity of the Blida volunteer center of the civil defense, affiliated with the Hezbollah-linked Islamic Health Organization.
Hezbollah noted in a statement that Israel “insists on targeting health facilities, the latest being the vicinity of the Blida volunteer center, which led to three firefighting and road-clearing vehicles going out of service. The paramedics survived by divine intervention.”
The vicinity of the center was targeted by 155 mm artillery shells after volunteers and their vehicles returned from clearing a road in Mhaibib, following destructive shelling.
Last week, Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling targeted the organization’s teams in Naqoura.
The Ministry of Health said that “the health teams are performing their humanitarian duty, and targeting them and their facilities is a blatant violation of all conventions, norms, and international laws.”
