UNIFIL urges coordination along Blue Line to avoid actions that could cause tensions

Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Major General Aroldo Lázaro, chaired a Tripartite meeting at a UN position in Ras al-Naqoura on Thursday, where the discussion tackled recent events along the Blue Line.   

Major General Lázaro urged parties to continue coordinating near the line with UNIFIL in advance and avoid any actions that could increase tensions.   

"Activities such as weapons pointing, the firing of live ammunition, laser pointing, and stone-throwing have all continued despite my repeated requests for action," he noted, encouraging the parties to use UNIFIL's resources when necessary.   

"The Blue Line marking project, which started in 2007, guides the trajectory of the Blue Line. Clarity on the precise trajectory of the Blue Line is determined through the deployment of UNIFIL assets," the UNIFIL head noted.   

During the meeting, discussions also tackled the latest UN Secretary-General's report, air and ground violations, and issues within the range of UNIFIL's mandate under UN Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006) and subsequent resolutions.    

In turn, the Lebanese Army announced in a statement that during the meeting, the Lebanese side touched on the repeated Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty by land, sea, and air and called on the United Nations to exert maximum pressure on the Israeli side to stop its encroachments.    

The Lebanese side also reaffirmed Lebanon's commitment to international resolutions, in particular resolution 1701 and all its provisions, stressing the need for the Israeli side to withdraw from all occupied Lebanese territories, namely the Shebaa Farms, the Kfarchouba hills, and the outskirts of the town of Al-Mari, where the urban expansion of the town of Ghajar is located, the areas where Lebanon reserves the withdrawal line (13 areas) and the areas where there is a permanent violation of the withdrawal line (17 areas).    

The Lebanese side confirmed the removal of the concrete wall erected by the Israeli side inside Lebanese territory at the northern entrance to the railway tunnel between Lebanon and occupied Palestine.