UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution Friday cutting the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon and expanding its mandate to address US and Israeli concerns about activities of the Hezbollah terrorist group in the area.
The French-drafted resolution reduced the troop ceiling for the force, known as UNIFIL, from 15,000 to 13,000 under US pressure, while extending its mandate for another year.
The resolution made another concession to the US and Israel — it calls on the Lebanese government to facilitate “prompt and full access” to sites requested by UN peacekeepers for investigation, including tunnels crossing the UN-drawn Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel. And it urges freedom of movement and unimpeded access for peacekeepers to all parts of the Blue Line, and condemns “in the strongest terms” all attempts to restrict UN troop movements and attacks on mission personnel.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hezbollah, which is backed by its greatest foe Iran, of impeding UNIFIL peacekeepers from carrying out their mandate, a view strongly backed by the Trump administration.