The Head of Mission and Force Commander of UNIFIL, Major General Michael Beary, today chaired a regular tripartite meeting with senior officials from the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at the UN position at Ras Al Naqoura.
 
Today’s discussions focused on issues related to the implementation of UNIFIL’s mandate under UN Security Council resolution 1701 (2006), air and ground violations, situation along the Blue Line and its ongoing visible marking, as well as the issue of withdrawal of Israeli forces from northern Ghajar.
 
In his remarks, Major General Beary reminded the parties of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s call, as stated in his latest report on the implementation of the resolution 1701, to not employ rhetoric threatening to use force, as it undermines the ten years of relative calm between Lebanon and Israel.
 
“I wish to remind all of us of the importance of continuing to exercise the utmost restraint and to stress that in all cases the default action must be to immediately use UNIFIL’s liaison and coordination channels each time an incident occurs,” Major General Beary told the parties, adding, “These confidence building measures have been of paramount importance for making sustainable the calm and stability that haveprevailed since 2006.”
 
Major General Beary also informed the parties that the Blue Line marking process is progressing well and efforts continue to find common ground on a number of positions for Blue Line barrels. “I would like to commend both parties for their willingness to accommodate these requests from UNIFIL and the positive responses that we have been receiving over recent weeks,” he added.
 
The UNIFIL commander also underlined the need to respect UNIFIL’s freedom of movement while carrying out its responsibilities as mandated by the UN Security Council and at the invitation of the Government of Lebanon.
 
The meeting was the 100th since it was first started in the wake of the 2006 war. Tripartite meetings have been held regularly under the auspices of UNIFIL since the end of the 2006 war. They have become an essential conflict management and confidence building mechanism between the parties. Such tripartite meetings are the only forum where Lebanese and Israeli representatives meet.