Hezbollah says UNIFIL mandate will remain 'ink on paper' without change
The paramilitary group is objecting to the renewal of the UN peacekeeping mission over last year's modification that gave the mission freedom of movement in southern Lebanon without coordination with the army.
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah movement warned on Monday against the renewal of the UN peacekeeping mission patrolling the border with Israel under the terms agreed to last year.
Last year, the UN Security Council renewed the annual mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) with a slight modification allowing the peacekeeping forces to operate “independently” without prior coordination with the Lebanese army or the government.
Hezbollah strongly criticized the modification at the time as a “violation of Lebanese sovereignty.”
The Security Council is meeting on Wednesday to vote on renewing the peacekeeping force’s mandate ahead of its Aug. 31 expiry. Lebanon's caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib is currently in New York, where he is reportedly trying to convince UN member states not to approve the mission’s mandate without modifying last year’s provisions.
