«The situation in the Unifil mission area is currently quite worrying. Daily life is very difficult, being able to monitor the situation especially in the last few days where there have been several attacks by Israeli forces against the mission and against some positions.” Andrea Tenenti, spokesperson for Unifil, explains to how the United Nations mission is dealing with the latest tensions in southern Lebanon due to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Today (yesterday, ed.) something else happened.
How did things go?
«Around 4.30 in the morning, while the Ghanaian peacekeepers were in their shelters, two Israeli tanks destroyed the gate and entered the base. They asked several times for the base to turn off the lights. After about an hour the tanks left the base, after the mission protested through our link mechanism. A little later, around 7am, peacekeepers in the same location heard explosions about 100 meters away that sent out smoke. Despite wearing protective masks, they suffered the effects of smoke with irritation and intestinal problems. And furthermore, yesterday too, Israeli soldiers blocked a logistical movement of the mission near Meiss Ej Jabal, denying passage.”
It’s a borderline situation.
«A very complicated and very complex situation. As we know, days ago the Israelis asked us to move from our positions and we remained because we are under the mandate of the United Nations Security Council. So we remain in our positions.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has asked the UN to withdraw Unifil. What do you think?
«As regards what the Israeli Prime Minister said, he asked the UN secretary general directly and therefore his position will be clarified, there will be a statement from the United Nations. However, the other day, we had already notified the Israelis that we will remain in our positions due to the fact that it is important to have the presence of the international community in this region, to be able to monitor and assist the population as well and be able to somehow maintain this communication channel with the parties to lower the tension. The situation is certainly very worrying, not only because of the conflict that is taking place here in southern Lebanon, with intense bombing also in Beirut, but because this conflict could lead to a regional expansion that would certainly have catastrophic consequences. And that’s what we need to try to avoid.”
How can we avoid, at this point, the widening of the conflict?
«The important thing is that the countries of the United Nations Security Council, the countries that have held important positions and also a responsibility in recent months to try to find solutions, see this situation as a priority, because there is no a military solution to this conflict, which could only have very short and disastrous consequences. Therefore, the only thing that can be done is a political and diplomatic solution and return to 1701 which still remains a resolution which, if implemented with the will of the parties, could bring stability back to the south of the country and to this region.”
#raid #explosion #smoke #Tempo
