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UN: Safety and Security of UNIFIL in Lebanon is ‘Increasingly in Jeopardy’

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations (Lacroix’ X account)
Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations (Lacroix’ X account)
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UN: Safety and Security of UNIFIL in Lebanon is ‘Increasingly in Jeopardy’

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations (Lacroix’ X account)
Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations (Lacroix’ X account)

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, said on Thursday that the safety and security of UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers is now increasingly in jeopardy.
Speaking to the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, Lacroix said UNIFIL operational activities have virtually come to a halt since 23 September, according to Reuters.
“UNIFIL is mandated to support the implementation of resolution 1701, but we must insist that it is for the parties themselves to implement the provisions of this resolution,” he noted.
Earlier, UNIFIL said in a statement that the Israeli forces “deliberately” fired at three UN positions in the south of Lebanon on Wednesday and Thursday, injuring two peacekeepers.
The United Nations peacekeepers were deployed to patrol Lebanon's border with Israel in 1978 after Israel clashed with Palestinian armed factions stationed in the south of Lebanon.
The mandate for the operation - known as the UN Interim Force in Lebanon or UNIFIL - is renewed annually by the 15-member UN Security Council.
The mission’s mandate had to be adjusted due to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 and after the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000.
The mandate was expanded with Resolution 1701 following the 2006 war.
In mid-September, Israel said it began the transfer of military weight to the northern front.
Since September 23, Israel has intensified its airstrikes in Lebanon, particularly on Hezbollah strongholds in the south and east of the country and in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
On September 30, the Israeli army said it began a “limited, localized and targeted” ground operation in southern Lebanon based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah targets and infrastructure.

 

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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

Cyprus stands ready to help eliminate Syria’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and to support a search for people whose fate remains unknown after more than a decade of war, the top Cypriot diplomat said Saturday.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Cyprus’ offer is grounded on its own past experience both with helping rid Syria of chemical weapons 11 years ago and its own ongoing, decades-old search for hundreds of people who disappeared amid fighting between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s and a 1974 Turkish invasion, The AP reported.

Cyprus in 2013 hosted the support base of a mission jointly run by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to remove and dispose of Syria's chemical weapons.

“As a neighboring country located just 65 miles from Syria, Cyprus has a vested interest in Syria’s future. Developments there will directly impact Cyprus, particularly in terms of potential new migratory flows and the risks of terrorism and extremism,” Kombos told The AP in written replies to questions.

Kombos said there are “profound concerns” among his counterparts across the region over Syria’s future security, especially regarding a possible resurgence of extremist groups like ISIS in a fragmented and polarized society.

“This is particularly critical in light of potential social and demographic engineering disguised as “security” arrangements, which could further destabilize the country,” Kombos said.

The diplomat also pointed to the recent proliferation of narcotics production like the stimulant Captagon that is interconnected with smuggling networks involved in people and arms trafficking.

Kombos said ongoing attacks against Syria’s Kurds must stop immediately, given the role that Kurdish forces have played in combating extremist forces like the ISIS group in the past decade.

Saleh Muslim, a member of the Kurdish Presidential Council, said in an interview that the Kurds primarily seek “equality” enshrined in rights accorded to all in any democracy.

He said a future form of governance could accord autonomy to the Kurds under some kind of federal structure.

“But the important thing is to have democratic rights for all the Syrians and including the Kurdish people,” he said.

Muslim warned that the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, near Syria’s border with Türkiye, is in “very big danger” of falling into the hands of Turkish-backed forces, and accused Türkiye of trying to occupy it.

Kombos said the international community needs to ensure that the influence Türkiye is trying to exert in Syria is “not going to create an even worse situation than there already is.”

“Whatever the future landscape in Syria, it will have a direct and far-reaching impact on the region, the European Union and the broader international community,” Kombos said.