The safety of the more than 10,400 UN peacekeepers in Lebanon is “increasingly in danger”operations have been virtually halted since late September, coinciding with Israel’s escalation against Hezbollah in Lebanon. The head of the UN peacekeeping forces Jean-Pierre Lacroix said this to the Security Council. “Peacekeepers have been confined to their bases and have spent long periods of time in shelters,” he said, adding that the UNIFIL mission continues to remain ready to support all efforts towards a diplomatic solution.
Unifil’s peacekeepers are however determined to remain in place despite Israeli attacks and orders to move from the Israeli armyadded the spokesperson of the UN force, Andrea Tenenti. The 50 contributing countries agreed yesterday to continue deploying peacekeepers between the Litani River in the north and the UN-recognized border between Lebanon and Israel. «We are there because the Security Council asked us to be there. So we will stay until the situation becomes impossible for us to operate,” Tenenti said.