Eight Lebanese lawmakers meet with UN peacekeeping chief Lacroix
Members of Parliament Najat Aoun Saliba, Salim Sayegh, Adnan Traboulsi, Firas Hamdan, Nasser Jaber, Hagop Terzian and Melhem Khalaf, met with the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, along with a number of senior UN officials, including the UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Diodato Abagnara, Hervé Le Coq, Deputy Head of Mission and Director of Political and Civil Affairs for UNIFIL, and Imran Riza, United Nations Deputy Special Coordinator, Resident, and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon.
Attending MPs addressed developments in southern Lebanon, the future of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in light of the approaching end of its current mandate, and the resulting challenges and risks in light of the continuing Israeli occupation of parts of the Lebanese territory.
The MPs stressed the need to maintain the UN presence in southern Lebanon and to work on finding an effective formula that ensures the continuation of the UN’s role in monitoring the situation on the ground, in observing violations, and in contributing to reduce tension and prevent escalation, in order to preserve stability and prevent the emergence of any security or state-related vacuum.
The MPs also stressed that any future arrangements must be made within the framework of the United Nations and under the relevant Security Council resolutions, in a manner consistent with Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and that supports the role of the Lebanese state and the Lebanese army in extending state authority over all Lebanese territory.
The MPs stressed that the current stage calls for an urgent and responsible international action, prior to the end of UNIFIL’s current mandate, in order to avoid any decline in the international presence in southern Lebanon, and ensure that the affected and occupied areas and their inhabitants are not left to the dangers of isolation and vacuum, which threaten stability in Lebanon and the region.
