Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil called for a meeting with the representatives of the five permanent members of the Security Council and the representative of the UN Secretary General on the eve of the vote of the Security Council on the decision to extend the mandate of the UNIFIL and in light of the debates revolving around this extension, in order to “confirm Lebanon’s stable position regarding its full commitment to UN resolution 1701 in all its articles and to praise the fundamental role of the UNIFIL in collaboration with the Lebanese Army in maintaining stability in South Lebanon.”
Bassil said that this confirms the necessity to extend the UNIFIL’s mandate technically as issued by resolution 1701 without any modification to its functions, stressing that the priority in any proposal of modification must be given to securing the continuous success of the international forces in the execution of their role by a meticulous study of all the factors of its success in preserving stability in the region where they operate.