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Because of disruptions to international
peace and tranquility in the Middle East, one of the things the UN did was
establish a "blue helmet" presence in the south of Lebanon. This
organization is named the UN Interim Force in Lebanon and was created in 1978 by
the UN Security Council (resolution 425). UNIFIL was to confirm Israeli
withdrawal from Lebanon, restore the international peace and security, and help
the Lebanese Government restore its effective authority in the area. The
internationally mandated force maintains an informative website concerning their
activities here and a nice
fact sheet that provides background and current
activities. Suffice it to say, though this will likely chance in the very near
future, UNIFIL is currently comprised of 1,990 troops, assisted by some 50
military observers of UNTSO; and supported by 102 international civilian
personnel and 306 local civilian staff. Contributors of the military personnel
are from China, France, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy, Poland and Ukraine.
If you are like most people, who did not
know about the existence of UNIFIL, you are likely scratching your head and
asking why, why, why. Why didn't UNIFIL stop this most recent escalation? Why
this, why that? So the first thing you need to do is understand the mandate of
UNIFIL and then do us all a favor and spend some time reviewing the UNIFIL
website and probably the fact sheet. I will get you started; the mandate of
UNIFIL is spelled out by the UN Security Council from resolutions 425 and 426
and can be summarized as follows:
1. Confirm the withdrawal of Israeli
forces from southern Lebanon;
2. Restore international peace and
security;
3. Assist the Government of Lebanon in
ensuring the return of its effective authority in the area
Your job in life is easy; UNIFIL's job is
not. There are active discussions within the UN Security Council that may lead
to a change for UNIFIL; we'll need to hold on tight to see what happens. As of
this writing, UNIFIL's mandate, typically extended in 6-month increments had
been extended 30 days to 31 August 2006.
Shelter in Qana hit by Israeli Air Strikes, killing over 60, at least 37 of whom
were children. Photo by Dahr Jamail
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A review of the UNIFIL reporting
periods clearly documents a number of "blue line" transgressions since
the confirmation of the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon in
2000. The "blue line" is the generally accepted boarder between Israel
and Lebanon, it's not perfect but it is functional when it comes to observing
transgressions by shepherds, IDF warplanes, Hezbollah rockets, bulldozers and
the like (you get the picture).
Though I am sure there were independent
(and not so independent) reporters on the ground, in and around the area on the
morning of 12 July 2006, I will be using UNIFIL's detailed report (S/2006/560) in my analysis
as well as other documents submitted to the UN by the parties involved and
others. As the report goes, at approximately 9:00am local time Hezbollah launched several rockets from Lebanese territory, across the "blue
line" towards Israel Defense Forces (IDF) near the coast and the Israeli
town of Zarit. In parallel, Hezbollah fighters crossed the "blue line"
into Israel, attacking an IDF patrol, capturing 2, killing 3 and wounding 2
others. These captured IDF soldiers were taken into Lebanon. In the afternoon of
12 July 2006, Lebanon requested that UNIFIL broker a cease-fire. The
uninterrupted hostilities have continued and have escalated ever since; feel
free to read the report for more details.
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