German defense minister Boris Pistorius on Thursday warned against a withdrawal of the long-running UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon at a time of major escalation between neighboring Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
A reduction or withdrawal of the UNIFIL force would be the wrong signal at this time, he told reporters on board the German corvette Oldenburg, which is deployed to the UN mission and was moored at Beirut's harbor.
UNIFIL has operated in Lebanon since 1978 to maintain peace along the border with Israel and was expanded by the UN resolution that halted the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war in southern Lebanon.