UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Stefano Del Col today chaired a regular Tripartite meeting with senior officers from the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) at the UN position in Ras Al Naqoura, calling on the parties to ensure that all the activities along the Blue Line are predictable in order to avoid misunderstandings and prevent tensions.

While noting that the past month, since the last Tripartite meeting on 10 January, has been calm, the UNIFIL head extended his gratitude to the parties for their cooperation.

Major General Del Col said: “The tripartite forum is a proven mechanism for reaching all party agreement and I ask that you continue to engage, through UNIFIL on sensitive issues.” He also underlined the importance of the Blue Line marking process: “I see the Blue Line marking as one of the most important confidence building tools at our disposal and I ask that every effort is undertaken to create new momentum in the process going forward.”

Today’s Tripartite discussions also touched on air and ground violations, the situation along the Blue Line, the issue of permanent violations, as well as other issues within the scope of the UN Security Council resolution 1701 and other related resolutions.

Tripartite meetings have been held regularly under the auspices of UNIFIL since the end of the 2006 war in south Lebanon as an essential conflict management and confidence building mechanism.