UNIFIL is already tasked with helping the Lebanese Army keep the area south of the Litani River free of unauthorized armed personnel, such as Hezbollah, as well as to prevent arms smuggling.
Israel and the United States have in the past called for the UNIFIL mandate to be strengthened to allow it to better monitor the situation.
The UNSC condemned “acts of harassment and intimidation against UNIFIL personnel in the strongest terms and urges all parties to ensure UNIFIL’s freedom of movement and access to the Blue Line,” UNIFIL said.
It also condemned “all violations of the Blue Line by air and ground, and strongly calls on the parties to respect the cessation of hostilities, prevent Blue Line violations,” it said. In addition, the UNSC urged the Israelis and the Lebanese to cooperate fully with the United Nations and UNIFIL and to fulfill its ceasefire obligations.
UNIFIL is composed of 10,000 peacekeepers from 46 nations.
Later in the morning, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace process Tor Wennesland told the UNSC that the “situation in the UNIFIL area of operations remains tense.”
He highlighted how rockets had been launched from Lebanon towards Israel on 4 and 6 August and Israel had responded with artillery fire and airstrikes in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah took responsibility for the rockets, he said.
Wennesland spoke at the monthly UNSC meeting in New York on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, where many of the 15-member states expressed concerned about a renewed outbreak of Gaza violence, including US Deputy Ambassador Richard Mills.
The US deputy envoy urged Palestinians and Israelis to halt inflammatory steps, particularly in light of escalating regional tensions.
“The United States urges Palestinians and Israelis to refrain from actions and rhetoric that inflame tensions and further endanger the fragile peace of the last three months,” Mills told the UNSC.
Mills took both Israelis and Palestinians to task with a list that included “incitement to violence” as well as the Palestinian Authority’s compensation of “individuals who are imprisoned for acts of terrorism.” Mills also urged Israel not to engage “annexation of territory” and “settlement activity,” and to halt Palestinian evictions and home demolitions.
“The US is deeply concerned about the risk of escalation in the region, particularly in light of the recent provocations” such as the Palestinian “use of incendiary devices along the Gaza border.”The renewal of Gaza border violence makes it particularly difficult “to deliver humanitarian relief” necessary in the aftermath of the 11-day Gaza war in May, Mills said.
Israel in the last month has made a series of economic gestures to the Palestinians in Gaza, including the approval of a mechanism to provide Qatari funds to 100,000 impoverished families and the easing of restrictions at the crossing.
This, however, has not prevented an escalation of Gaza violence. Mills called on Israel to take additional steps at improving access to goods at the crossings. He also urged all UN member states “to redouble their efforts to help Gaza recover.”