UN said set to bolster peacekeeping force in south Lebanon

The United Nations will reportedly expand the mandate of its peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon following complaints from Israel over the international body’s failure to address Hezbollah’s weapons buildup in the area.

As a result of the proposed changes, which are set to come before the UN Security Council for approval in the coming days, UNIFIL would increase its oversight activities in southern Lebanon, including by entering villages where the Hezbollah terror group operates, several Israeli media outlets reported.

UNIFIL would also receive additional forces, increase the number of reports it sends to the UN and inform the UN immediately of Hezbollah violations of Resolution 1701, Channel 2 news reported Tuesday.

The report also said France, which has previously opposed changes to the UN resolution, is expected to vote in favor of expanding UNIFIL’s mission as a result of US pressure, as is Russia.

In addition to Israel, the United States has also pushed for the expansion of UNIFIL’s mandate, which is set to expire on August 31.

Last week, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley accused the commander of UNIFIL of being “blind” to Hezbollah’s weapons buildup.

“What I find totally baffling is the view of the UNIFIL commander General Beary,” Haley said in reference to Irish Major General Michael Beary. “General Beary says there are no Hezbollah weapons.”

“He seems to be the only person in south Lebanon who is blind. That’s an embarrassing lack of understanding on what’s going on around him,” she added.

Haley’s comments were later echoed by Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon and Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely, with the latter saying the strengthening of UNIFIL’s mission would be a key issue in talks with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who visited Israel this week.

In an interview with Channel 2 Monday, Guterres said he was working toward strengthening UNIFIL.

“One of the things I can do is to try to make sure, to do everything possible, to have UNIFIL, the UN force in southern Lebanon, to fully accomplish its mandate,” he said. “I have already wrote to the Security Council saying that I would like to see conditions to enhance the capacity of UNIFIL according to its mandate, which is to cooperate with the Lebanese army.

“I would like to say that I believe UNIFIL has done a very important job in many aspects. But I have also given instructions for UNIFIL to intensify their actions in a number of ways. We all know the difficulties of acting in these circumstances.”

Despite the calls from the US and Israel for UNIFIL’s mission to be expanded, Lebanon has called for the peacekeeping force’s mandate to be renewed without changes.

Agencies contributed to this report.