UNIFIL peacekeepers are fully committed to fulfilling the mandate given by the Security Council, in accordance with Resolution 1701, until the very last day of the mission. They carry out hundreds of operational and training activities every day both on land and at sea, including some conducted together with the Lebanese Armed Forces.
Recent hostilities have posed significant challenges on the ground. Nevertheless, peacekeepers have adapted to the evolving realities and continued to carry out their mandated tasks, from conducting daily patrols and clearing roads to facilitating humanitarian missions and providing essential assistance to displaced and vulnerable communities.
The mission’s head and Force Commander, Major General Diodato Abagnara, said UNIFIL remains the essential and impartial conduit between south Lebanon and the wider international community, independently monitoring and reporting on the situation on the ground.
“Thanks to the work of the brave peacekeepers who operate round the clock across the length and breadth of south Lebanon, we serve not only as a key support pillar for communities affected by the recent hostilities, but also as impartial eyes and ears on the ground,” said Major General Abagnara. “The people remaining in the south pin their hopes on our peacekeepers as a source of reassurance.”
Since the reduction in violence in late June, UNIFIL peacekeepers have gradually ramped up operational activities, and the UNIFIL head said this tempo will continue until the end of the mission’s mandate.
“This is crucial to the success of our mission in south Lebanon,” he said. “Our patrols, road-clearance operations, and security escorts for humanitarian convoys all contribute to the fulfilment of our monitoring and reporting mandate. At the heart of all these activities lies the essential liaison and coordination role played by our Liaison Branch with the parties.”
