Why did UNIFIL not respond to Hezbollah’s nearby activities in violation of Resolution 1701?
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is deployed in the south of the country to act as a buffer with Israel. In practice, it requires the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. This resolution aims to cease hostilities on both sides of the border and establishes that only forces that maintain security, UN peace and the Lebanese army deploy in southern Lebanon.
This text allowed the deployment of the Lebanese army along the border previously controlled by Hezbollah. But the party has maintained its presence in the region, where, according to experts, it has excavated a significant network of tunnels.
In 2020, the UN demanded in vain that Lebanon access these tunnels – which constitute a violation of resolution 1701 – under the “blue line”, which marks the border between the two countries. After 2006, shootings and tensions between Israel and Hezbollah continued to occur, albeit sporadically, until a further escalation in October 2023.
UNIFIL is primarily responsible for supporting humanitarian work, but can also “decide any necessary action regarding the deployment of its forces, in order to guarantee that its area of operations is not used for hostile acts”.
He periodically calls on the belligerents, who entered into open war three weeks ago, to cease hostilities. With the start of the Israeli army’s ground incursions into southern Lebanon in late September, it was caught in a bind. Now he accuses Israeli troops of shooting “repeated” AND “deliberate” by their positions, having wounded four peacekeepers in two days.
