Tenenti dubs US-Israel agreement to end UNIFIL's mission 'rumors'
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti denied Thursday in an interview with Al-Jadeed an alleged agreement between the U.S. and Israel to end the peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, calling such reports "rumors."
Tenenti stressed that UNIFIL's commitment to support the Lebanese Army, urging the Israeli military to withdraw from Lebanese territory.
Tenenti accused "Some parties" of hindering UNIFIL’s movements in southern Lebanon, after several confrontations between people in south Lebanon, where Hezbollah holds sway, and U.N. peacekeepers in recent weeks.
Confrontations are typically defused by the Lebanese army and rarely escalate.
The November ceasefire agreement, which sought to end over a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, states that only Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers may be deployed in the country's south.
On Tuesday, United Nations peacekeepers said rock-throwing individuals confronted them during a patrol in south Lebanon, calling repeated targeting of their troops "unacceptable".
The U.N. Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), deployed since 1978 to separate Lebanon and Israel, sits on a five-member committee to supervise the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
In a statement, UNIFIL said peacekeepers conducting "a planned patrol" coordinated with the Lebanese army were "confronted by a group of individuals in civilian clothing". Residents appeared in a video telling UNIFIL soldiers that they can't enter private property without being accompanied by the Lebanese Army.
Tenenti said that Resolution 1701 allows patrols to operate without the Lebanese Army.
Also on Thursday, Lebanese Defense Minister Michel Menassa visited the UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura and stressed the importance of renewing the UNIFIL’s mandate -- which is set to expire at the end of August -- in order "to restore stability" in south Lebanon and "start the reconstruction" of war-hit regions. He said he hopes the renewal will be done without any amendments.
Source: Naharnet
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