The UN special coordinator for Lebanon and the head of the peacekeeping force deployed along the border with Israel said that a negotiated solution is the only way to restore stability and the time to act is now.
The statement by Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro of the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) came on the first anniversary of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group starting attacks on Israeli military posts along the border in support of its Hamas allies in the Gaza Strip.
Over the past weeks, the exchanges along the border have expanded into Israeli airstrikes and Hezbollah missile attacks that are hitting deeper inside both countries. In Lebanon, more than 1 million people have been displaced and over 1,300 killed since mid-September.
Plasschaert and Lázaro said Hezbollah’s attacks starting on Oct. 8, 2023 were in violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701 that ended the 34-day Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.
“Too many lives have been lost, uprooted, and devastated, while civilians on both sides of the Blue Line are left wanting for security and stability,” the statement said referring to the border line along the Lebanon-Israel border.
“Today, one year later, the near-daily exchanges of fire have escalated into a relentless military campaign whose humanitarian impact is nothing short of catastrophic,” the statement said.
It warned that further that further violence and destruction will neither solve the underlying issues nor make anyone safer in the long run.
“A negotiated solution is the only pathway to restore the security and stability that civilians on both sides so desperately want and deserve,” the statement said. “The time to act accordingly is now.”
