UNIFIL head: Unprecedented calm on Israel-Lebanon border in last decade

9 May 2016, 6:58 pm

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The head of the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon holds a meeting with Lebanese leaders in Beirut, saying that the last 10 years since the bluehats have been deployed there have seen hostilities nearly come to a halt.

“In this period, an overall calm has prevailed in southern Lebanon at a level unprecedented in its recent history,” UNIFIL Maj. Gen. Luciano Portolano says in comments after the meetings.

File: A Spanish UNIFIL peacekeeper drives an armored vehicle in the Lebanese town of Adaisseh, near the border with Israel, on January 19, 2015. (AFP/Mahmoud Zayyat)

He also thanks the Lebanese armed forces for their help in securing the border region since the bloody 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

“The arrangements we have put in place through UNIFIL’s liaison and coordination with the parties have proven their worth in ensuring a degree of stability along the Blue Line through these challenging times and despite some very serious situations we have had to address in the area,” he says.