UNIFIL urges Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon amid ceasefire violations News
Makaristos, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
UNIFIL urges Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon amid ceasefire violations

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Thursday urged Israel to promptly withdraw from southern Lebanon, citing violations of a November 27 ceasefire agreement with the Iranian-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

In a statement posted on both X and Telegram, UNIFIL stated: “Any actions that risk the fragile cessation of hostilities must cease.” The UN peacekeeping force expressed concern over the ongoing Israeli military destruction of residential areas, farmland, and infrastructure in southern Lebanon, criticizing the destruction as a breach of UN Security Council Resolution 1701. UNIFIL further strengthened its call for the implementation of Resolution 1701, stating that both Israel and Lebanon have already recommitted to its full implementation.

The November 27 ceasefire agreement, which was brokered by the US, established a 60-day truce that mandates a phased withdrawal of Israeli military forces following over a year of conflict. The agreement is in line with Resolution 1701, a 2006 UN Security Council resolution that ended the last significant clash between these forces. According to the agreement, Hezbollah fighters must move north of the Litani River, located approximately 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of the Israeli border, accompanied by a complete Israeli withdrawal from the south.

The Israeli military responded that it was reviewing UNIFIL’s concerns but declined to offer further comments at the moment. Under the terms of their agreement with Hezbollah, Israeli forces have up to 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, and neither party may engage in offensive operations during this period.

UNIFIL has previously warned against violations of the agreement and against Israeli operations in Lebanon. In November, for instance, UNIFIL stated that the Israeli military’s destruction of property in Ras Naqooura, southern Lebanon, violated international law. In March, a UNIFIL investigation also found that an Israeli tank strike in Lebanon that killed a journalist violated Resolution 1701.

 

 

 

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